Due to the fact that Schäffler is developing a flying car, the share has been on my watch for some time.
The last figures weren't great, but now things could get interesting.
My dears, is it perhaps worth getting a foot in the door?
Schaeffler now also wants to benefit from a growth sector: The industrial and automotive supplier wants to gain a foothold in the defense industry - partly because the sector is unlikely to suffer a similar fate to the automotive industry.
An incredible 800 billion euros are to flow into the European defense industry in the coming years. The EU Commission made the corresponding plans public in the spring - in view of the threat from Russia and the war in Ukraine. At defense companies such as Rheinmetall, Renk and Diehl, sales and profits are only going in one direction: steeply upwards.
The Herzogenaurach-based industrial and automotive supplier Schaeffler now also wants to participate in this development: The company, which like many others is suffering from the weakening automotive business, has decided to become more involved in the defense industry.
Schaeffler CEO Rosenfeld: "Defense is not a fashionable topic"
"It's no longer a question of if, but how," said Group CEO Klaus Rosenfeld in an interview with the Börsen-Zeitung. Schaeffler had previously spent months examining the possibility of entering the defense business. "Defense is not a fashionable topic. It has to be thought about in the long term," explained Rosenfeld.
The defense business is also interesting for the Herzogenaurach-based company because defense companies are not threatened with a similar fate as car manufacturers. According to Rosenfeld, the defense industry is "a completely different business, with a different price-performance mentality and without competition from Chinese suppliers".
No details yet on future business
How exactly and to what extent Schaeffler intends to enter the defense business is not yet known. Following the fundamental decision, the company is now in a "second phase" according to Group CEO Klaus Rosenfeld. A project team is now working on the details of the product, manufacturing and sales strategy.
A simple transfer of the civilian business to the military business is not possible. This requires an "independent, very robust business system", explains Rosenfeld. For example, because of higher cyber security requirements. It is not yet clear whether and where new jobs could be created.
Schaeffler is not completely new to the defense business
In fact, this is not a completely new entry into the defense business for the Herzogenaurach-based company. Schaeffler has been manufacturing bearings for military aircraft and parts for US Army helicopters for years. However, this has been on a very small scale. So far, Schaeffler's defense business has not even contributed one percent to total sales.
