This is one of the highest growth rates the company has achieved in recent quarters. Schaeffler thus ends 2017 with revenue well above the 2017 annual forecast of 4 to 5 percent revenue growth (before the impact of currency translation).

Both of the company's divisions contributed to this positive development. While sales in the Automotive division increased to 10.9 billion euros (previous year: around 10.3 billion euros), which corresponds to currency-adjusted growth of 5.9%, sales in the Industrial division rose to around 3.1 billion euros for the year as a whole. This corresponds to currency-adjusted growth of 5.6%. In the fourth quarter, the Industrial division's currency-adjusted growth rate of around 9 percent was even higher than that of the Automotive division at 8.3 percent. These figures show that the Industrial division has returned to a sustainable growth path.

Thanks to the strong third and fourth quarters, the Automotive division once again outperformed the market, i.e. global production of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, for the year as a whole. With market growth of around 2.3% in 2017, this results in an outperformance of 3.6% for the year as a whole. In the strong 4th quarter, this figure was as high as 7.2%.

All of the Schaeffler Group's regions contributed to the positive revenue growth in 2017. The Greater China region again contributed the largest increase excluding the impact of currency translation, growing by 24.1 percent. Asia-Pacific increased by 5.7 percent excluding the impact of currency translation. Currency-adjusted sales in the Americas rose by 4.6%. Europe grew by 1.4 percent on a currency-adjusted basis.

"We continued our successful course in the 2017 financial year. The positive growth momentum in the second half of the year was particularly pleasing. We exceeded our forecast for currency-adjusted sales growth of 4% to 5% for the year as a whole. We expect the positive revenue trend to continue in 2018," said Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO of Schaeffler AG.

The Automotive division's strong growth over the year as a whole was driven by both Automotive OEM (currency-adjusted growth of 6.6%) and Automotive Aftermarket (currency-adjusted growth of 3.2%). As already communicated in October 2017, the former Automotive Aftermarket division was made an independent Board of Management department with effect from January 1, 2018 and established as a third division under the leadership of Mr. Michael Söding (55). In addition, an independent division for e-mobility was also created on January 1, 2018, in which all products and system solutions for hybrid and purely battery-powered vehicles are bundled.

"With the new corporate structure, we will continue to systematically drive forward the transformation of the Schaeffler Group in 2018. We want to align ourselves even better with the needs of our customers and continue to focus on growth," Rosenfeld continued.

Schaeffler will present its financial figures at its annual press conference in Munich on March 7, 2018. kp