HARMAN International has agreed to buy the advanced driver assistance systems business of Germany’s ZF Group for €1.5bn, as the Samsung-owned automotive supplier steps up its push into software-defined vehicles and centralised computing architectures.
The deal will see HARMAN acquire ZF’s ADAS activities, including automotive compute platforms, smart cameras, radar systems, and related software. Around 3,750 employees across Europe, the Americas, and Asia are expected to transfer to HARMAN once the transaction closes, which is anticipated in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
The acquisition reflects the rapid convergence of assisted driving, safety, and in-cabin digital experiences, as carmakers redesign vehicles around software and high-performance central computers rather than dozens of discrete electronic control units. HARMAN said integrating ZF’s ADAS technology with its Digital Cockpit products would allow assisted and automated driving functions to run alongside infotainment and connectivity services on a shared computing platform.
Christian Sobottka, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Automotive Division at HARMAN, said the industry was at an “inflection point” where safety systems and user experience needed to be delivered through a unified architecture. He added that combining ADAS capabilities with HARMAN’s existing automotive portfolio would enable new cross-domain features, such as perception-informed audio cues and more context-aware driving assistance.
For ZF, one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, the sale supports efforts to streamline its portfolio and reduce debt amid slowing global vehicle production and heavy investment demands. Mathias Miedreich, Chief Executive Officer of ZF Group, said the transaction would allow the company to focus resources on its core technologies, while placing the ADAS business with a partner better positioned to scale it.
Samsung, which acquired HARMAN in 2017, has used the business as its main vehicle for expanding into automotive electronics. According to Young Sohn, Chairman of the Board of Directors at HARMAN and Senior Advisor to Samsung Electronics, HARMAN’s revenue has grown from about $7bn at the time of acquisition to more than $11bn today. He said adding ZF’s ADAS capabilities would strengthen HARMAN’s role in the transformation of the automotive industry.
HARMAN said it would continue to support existing ZF ADAS programmes after completion, while integrating engineering and software teams to accelerate development of next-generation platforms. Carolin Reichert, Chief Strategy Officer at HARMAN, described the transaction as a major milestone in executing the company’s long-term strategy, noting the complexity of carving out and integrating a large, global business.
The deal underlines intensifying competition among automotive suppliers to become strategic partners to carmakers as vehicles increasingly resemble rolling computers, with safety, automation, and digital services tightly integrated into a single software-driven architecture.
