Brakes specialist awarded £5m contract by Swedish car manufacturer
Knowsley-based Surface Transforms, the ceramic brake manufacturer, announced a contract today worth more than £5m.
It announced it has been selected as the tier one sole supplier of carbon ceramic brake discs on the recently-launched Koenigsegg Gemera, a limited-production four-seat plug-in hybrid grand tourer to be manufactured by the Swedish automobile manufacturer Koenigsegg.
The lifetime value of the contract is in excess of £5m with a start of production in mid-2022 completing in mid 2027.
Revenue is expected to be generated broadly evenly over the contract with approximately £1m per year being recognised in each of the four mid-programme years, commencing 2023.
The Koenigsegg Gemera was launched at the 2020 “virtual” Geneva motor show as the world’s first Mega-GT and Koenigsegg’s first four-seater.
It has a hybrid propulsion system, achieving 1,700 bhp or 1.27 MW.
The internal combustion engine can be powered by either petrol or CO2 neutral methanol.
In 2019 Koenigsegg received a $150m investment from National Electric Vehicle Sweden in exchange for a 20% interest for NEVS in the Koenigsegg group.
As part of this transaction, NEVS and Koenigsegg have formed a 65:35 joint venture to exploit Koenigsegg’s intellectual property, technology licences and product designs. The Gemera has been designed by, and will be badged as, Koenigsegg but manufactured in Sweden by NEVS.
Kevin Johnson, Surface Transforms chief executive, said: “This contract is now the third award from Koenigsegg and again demonstrates that when we win an initial contract with a customer we can achieve follow-on business.
“Our relationship with Koenigsegg is long-standing and we are, therefore, delighted that we continue to work with them as they transition to the next level in the automotive market through their partnership with NEVS.
“We are also particularly pleased that this is another example of the importance of weight-reducing carbon ceramic discs in electric vehicles, whether BEVs or hybrids.
“This announcement reinforces our view that the company will be profitable before tax in 2022.”
He added: “The company expects to make further announcements of contract awards with other automotive OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) over the next twelve months.”
