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Company type | Division |
---|---|
Industry | Automotive |
Headquarters | London, |
Area served | Worldwide |
Products | Automotive Components |
Owner | Dowlais Group PLC [1] |
Number of employees | 25,000 (2023) |
GKN Automotive is a multinational manufacturer of driveline components, all-wheel drive systems and plug-in hybrid systems for the automotive industry. [2]
It employs around 25,000 people across 47 manufacturing facilities and 6 technology centres in 19 countries. [3]
In 2018, Melrose Industries [2] acquired GKN Ltd and renamed it GKN Automotive. [4] This encompasses both the Driveline and ePowertrain divisions. [3]
GKN Automotive became the world's largest producer of constant-velocity joints (CVJs), which it began manufacturing in the 1960s for early front-wheel drive cars. [5] Its other products include sideshafts, propshafts, modular eDrive systems, multi-mode hybrid transmissions for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, torque vectoring systems for electric drivelines and a range of all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive systems. [2]
GKN, originally known as Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds, first began in 1759 with the establishment of Dowlais Ironworks by Thomas Lewis and Isaac Wilkinson. In the early 19th century, the company was actively involved in the railway boom through its production of iron. This was followed by a shift to steel production in the 1860s. After World War I, GKN diversified into the automotive industry.[ citation needed ]
In 1966, after being advised GKN Steel would be nationalised for the second time, GKN bought CVJ market leaders Birfield Industries with its subsidiaries Hardy Spicer and Laycock Engineering with their interests and subsidiaries in Europe, Japan and the United States to save its BRD subsidiary. [6] This was the start of the company's globalization. GKN established a manufacturing presence in China in 1988. At the same time, GKN Driveline was investing in and growing its business in India, Brazil and Mexico.[ citation needed ]
GKN Ltd was a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It was a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 and the birth of the Industrial Revolution. In 2018 GKN plc was acquired by Melrose Industries plc in a hostile takeover. Melrose divested GKN Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy in 2023 and listed them as Dowlais Group on the London Stock Exchange. GKN Aerospace continues to be owned by Melrose plc.
Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive company, headquartered in Mumbai and part of the Tata Group. The company produces cars, trucks, vans, and buses.
Hardy Spicer is a brand of automotive transmission or driveline equipment best known for its mechanical constant velocity universal joint originally manufactured in Britain by Hardy employing patents belonging to US-based Spicer Manufacturing. Hardy and Spicer soon became partners. Later Spicer became Dana Holding Corporation.
ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, originally Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen, and commonly abbreviated to ZF, is a German technology manufacturing company that supplies systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology. It is headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south-west German state of Baden-Württemberg. Specializing in engineering, it is primarily known for its design, research and development, and manufacturing activities in the automotive industry and is one of the largest automotive suppliers in the world. Its products include driveline and chassis technology for cars and commercial vehicles, along with specialized plant equipment such as construction equipment. It is also involved in the rail, marine, defense and aviation industries, as well as general industrial applications. ZF has 162 production locations in 31 countries with approximately 168,700 (2023) employees.
The Mitsubishi Outlander is a compact crossover SUV manufactured by Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors since 2001. It was originally known as the Mitsubishi Airtrek when it was introduced in Japan.
Arthur Keen was a British entrepreneur, the Keen in engineering firm Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds, later GKN plc.
BorgWarner Inc. is an American automotive and e-mobility supplier headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. As of 2022, the company maintains production facilities and sites at 92 locations in 24 countries, and generates revenues of US$15.8 billion, while employing around 52,000 people. The company is one of the 25 largest automotive suppliers in the world.
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. is a manufacturer of electric wire and optical fiber cables. Its headquarters are in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The company's shares are listed in the first section of the Tokyo, Nagoya Stock Exchanges, and the Fukuoka Stock Exchange. In the period ending March 2021, the company reported consolidated sales of US$26,5 billion.
The Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, also known as the Range Rover Evoque or the Land Rover Evoque, is a subcompact luxury crossover SUV developed and produced by Jaguar Land Rover under their Land Rover marque. The original Evoque was a development of the Land Rover LRX concept vehicle, which was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in January 2008. The first generation Evoque was produced from July 2011 until 2018 in three and five-door versions, with both two-wheel and four-wheel drive. The second generation of the car went into production in 2018.
Melrose Industries plc is a British aerospace manufacturing company based in Birmingham, England. It is the parent company of GKN Aerospace. The company's shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover, also known as JLR, and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and SUV and has its head office in Whitley, Coventry, United Kingdom. The principal activity of Jaguar Land Rover is the design, development, manufacture and sale of vehicles bearing the Jaguar and Land Rover marques.
Bright Automotive was a startup company in Anderson, Indiana, working to create a fuel-efficient line of plug-in electric vehicles. The company was started in 2008 with a team of employees from former companies such as Chrysler, Delphi, GM, Mazda, and Toyota. The company designed its first vehicle, the IDEA, a plug-in hybrid electric fleet vehicle designed to reduce fuel costs for corporations that maintain a large commercial fleet. Bright also had a service branch called eSolutions that focused on speeding up the process of car electrification with consulting and conversions. Bright's last CEO, Reuben Munger, stated in early press releases that he wished to see the IDEA in production by 2013.
Magna Powertrain is a major American manufacturer of transmission and drivetrain systems owned by Magna International. It was formed from multiple subsidiaries and acquisitions. In addition to producing transmission systems and drivetrain systems, they also provide metal-forming and engineering services.
NTN Corporation is one of the most prominent manufacturers of bearings in Japan, second domestically only to NSK Ltd. The company is one of the largest exporters worldwide of friction-reducing products, such as constant-velocity joints.
Nexteer Automotive is a global motion control technology company. It is a publicly traded company owned about one-third by its shareholders. About two-thirds by Pacific Century Motors, which in turn is 51% owned by AVIC Automotive. Nexteer's global headquarters is in Auburn Hills, Michigan, United States.
A drivetrain or transmission system, is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components of a motor vehicle that deliver power to the drive wheels. This excludes the engine or motor that generates the power. In marine applications, the drive shaft will drive a propeller, thruster, or waterjet rather than a drive axle, while the actual engine might be similar to an automotive engine. Other machinery, equipment and vehicles may also use a drivetrain to deliver power from the engine(s) to the driven components.
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The Laycock Engineering Company Limited of Archer Road, Millhouses, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England was an engineering business established in 1884 by W S Laycock which made small and major components for railway rolling stock.
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Dowlais Group plc is a British company operating in the automotive and powder metallurgy industries. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.