German automobile driveline and chassis technology provider ZF Friedrichshafen's powertrain and suspension components subsidiary, ZF Sachs, is exporting clutches made in its China unit to Japan, according to a company press release.
The clutches and related components are produced at Shanghai Sachs Powertrain Components Systems, a joint venture between ZF Sachs and Shanghai Automotive Industry and will be used in the new Mazda3 and also in other models.

"This is the first time for the German-Chinese joint venture manufactures to sell products to a customer outside China, the company said. Previously, the clutches for Mazda vehicles came from Europe to Japan.

ZF has said that euro and yen exchange rate issues forced it to shift production to China. "Despite long and good business relations and despite the technical know-how and renowned product quality, we would no longer have been competitive with our supplies from Europe", says Stefan Wagner, head of powertrain systems at ZF Japan and key account manager responsible for customers in Japan and Korea.

ZF Sachs plans supply approximately 100,000 clutches to Japan in 2009.