Schaeffler Officially Inaugurates New R&D Building in Changsha

On April 29, Schaeffler, a global leader in automotive and industrial R&D and manufacturing, officially inaugurated the new facility of its Changsha R&D Center. This milestone marks Schaeffler's continued commitment to deepening its localization R&D strategy in China, further integrating into the local industrial ecosystem, vigorously promoting the efficient integration of cutting-edge intelligent driving technology development and industrial application, and realizing the sharing of industrial chain resources with mutual complementarity of strengths.

As a critical node in Schaeffler's global R&D network, the Changsha R&D Center has steadily advanced its layout. In 2019, Schaeffler Intelligent Driving Technology (Changsha) Co., Ltd. was formally established. In 2023, the Changsha R&D Center was officially inaugurated, becoming the company's core base for deep cultivation of intelligent driving technology in China.

Leveraging its localized R&D system, the center is dedicated to covering the entire chain from frontier technology research to product industrialization. It focuses on three core areas: electric drive systems, intelligent chassis technologies, and autonomous driving solutions. Key research priorities include steer-by-wire systems, high-performance electro-hydraulic steering systems, and various high-end electric drive products, providing critical core technology support for future intelligent mobility.

After years of development, the Changsha R&D Center has achieved simultaneous improvements in R&D capability and business performance. The center currently has an R&D team of nearly 200 people, bringing together top technical talent from the industry. In 2025, its annual revenue reached RMB 284 million, and it successfully developed a number of globally leading intelligent driving core products, accelerating the implementation of localized R&D achievements.

With the continuous expansion of its business scope and R&D team, the original R&D facility could no longer meet diverse R&D demands. The newly inaugurated R&D building is located at the Xiangjiang Intelligent Connected Vehicle Industry Incubation Base, with a total floor area of approximately 5,000 square meters. It is equipped with comprehensive facilities, including R&D laboratories, a product pilot workshop, a brand exhibition hall, and administrative office areas, fully covering functions such as frontier technology development, product testing and validation, customer business exchanges, and daily operations. The building currently hosts around 170 R&D and office staff, whose professional expertise provides a solid talent foundation for local technological breakthroughs and product mass production.

At the inauguration ceremony, Schaeffler simultaneously signed a strategic cooperation agreement with CiDi Inc. The two parties will leverage their respective core strengths to achieve synergy: Schaeffler contributes core hardware technologies including steer-by-wire systems, electric drives, and advanced chassis components, while CiDi focuses on L4 autonomous driving algorithms and vehicle‑infrastructure cooperative software solutions. Together, they will pursue technological innovation and industrial application, aiming to establish benchmark projects in the intelligent connected vehicle field and drive industry technology upgrading.

Mr. Uwe Wagner, Chief Technology Officer of the Schaeffler Group, stated that the inauguration of the new Changsha R&D building represents an important milestone in Schaeffler's global innovation strategy. Looking ahead, Schaeffler will continue to be rooted in the Chinese market, rely on its localized R&D platform, accelerate the transformation of cutting‑edge technologies into implementable, mass‑producible innovative solutions, and continuously empower the high‑quality development of the intelligent mobility industry.