At the end of January 2020, US propulsion technology specialist BorgWarner (Auburn Hills, Michigan; www.borgwarner.com) announced the acquisition of UK vehicle electronics manufacturer Delphi Technologies (London; www.delphi.com) in an all-stock transaction. This will result in the creation of one of the world’s leading drive systems manufacturers (www.leadingpropulsion.com) in the second half of 2020 under the name BorgWarner. Delphi Technologies is the former powertrain division of US supplier Delphi Automotive, which has been operating with the residual mobility division as Aptiv (Dublin / Ireland; www.aptiv.com) since the split-off in 2017. In fiscal 2019, BorgWarner and Delphi Technologies posted sales of USD 10.17 bn (EUR 9.43 bn) and USD 4.36 bn, respectively. Delphi Technologies is valued at USD 3.3 bn.

BorgWarner says it is focused on clean and efficient technology solutions for vehicles with combustion, hybrid and electric propulsion, and claims to be one of the world’s largest car component suppliers. In Germany, BorgWarner owns, for example, the site of the former company Beru (Ludwigsburg / Germany), where the research and development department, global marketing centre, global supply chain management and production lines for glow plugs and ignition coils are now located.

According to a company spokesperson, BorgWarner Cooling Systems (Markdorf / Germany), which belongs to the Unit Emissions and Thermal Systems division, is its only plastics processing site in Germany and one of the few production sites including a technology centre and marketing department. For the group, the Markdorf plant serves as a leading facility for development and production.

At the site sold to the BorgWarner group by Eaton (Dublin; www.eaton.com) in 1999, the focus is on technical solutions for the thermal management of heavy, medium and light commercial vehicles on and off the road (agricultural, industrial and building machinery). The portfolio covers products for air and coolant flow such as fans, ventilators and fan clutches.

The Markdorf plant has a total area of 35,000 m² and employs around 250 people. The injection moulding production area with 11 injection moulding machines heaving a clamping force between 1,300 kn and 16,000 kN takes up the largest amount of space and meets all in-house demand for injection-moulded fan wheels. In the case of the fan clutches, which are machined from aluminium castings, BorgWarner manufactures around 40% of its requirements itself. As part of the change from combustion vehicles to hybrid and electrical technology, thermal management products for e-vehicles are key growth areas of the future.