Dana Incorporated has completed its acquisition of SME Group which designs, engineers and manufactures low voltage motors and inverters for construction, materials handling and agriculture vehicles.
SME’s low-voltage AC induction and synchronous reluctance motors, inverters and controls are primarily designed to meet the evolution of electrification in off-highway equipment.
US-based Dana expects the acquisition of SME Group, headquartered in Arzignano, Italy, will significantly expand its electrified product portfolio.
Dana CEO, Jim Kamsickas, said the acquisition enhances Dana’s ability to address the electrification and hybridisation needs of its customers, while also increasing the potential for incremental content per vehicle.
“SME’s exceptional electric motor and inverter products, which largely support off-highway applications, are highly complementary to the technologies we acquired with TM4, which are predominately focused on light- and commercial-vehicle applications,” Kamsickas said.
Dana Chief Technology Officer, Christophe Dominiak, said Dana is equipped to provide complete e-Propulsion systems that balance the demands for performance, power density and weight.
“The addition of SME’s low-voltage induction motors rounds out our already robust offering of high-voltage permanent magnet motors and enables us to deliver a complete range of electrified solutions for our customers,” Dominiak says.
The privately-owned SME Group employs more than 100 people and operates in China, Germany, Canada and Italy.
Dana expects to further strengthen its electrification capabilities through the anticipated acquisition of the Drive Systems segment of the Oerlikon group, which the company said in a release will allow it to provide products for a broad range of hybrid and electric vehicle configurations. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019.