Manufacturer charged by prospect of its busiest ever year

A WEST Midlands design engineering business is ramping up operations ahead for what it expects to be its busiest ever year.

MarchantCain’s growing optimism is down to its entry into the electric vehicle market.

The firm is already planning to relocate to larger premises in preparation for an expected surge in demand and production. This comes after it agreed a number of new deals with some major automotive OEMs, and engaging with a German low-volume electric vehicle manufacturer.

The German company is planning to bring the world’s most affordable electric vehicle to the second car market, with a business model based around the philosophy of re-use, re-engineer and re-cycle.

The new vehicle model, which is built using carbon fibre, will be sold to motorists on a use-and-return basis with vehicles being returned to the manufacturer at the end of a contract, after which it will be refurbished, and sold on to a new owner.

The vehicle is being designed to be lighter and stronger than conventional vehicles for added range, with company officials claiming that the cars will have a range of more than 100 Km on a single charge.  

MarchantCain has been engaged to advise the manufacturer on creating a model that is as lightweight as possible, using recycled materials. In particular, MarchantCain is prototyping a new lightweight window regulator system for the vehicle (pictured).

The bold leap into the electric vehicle market follows a successful period for MarchantCain, which has just completed a project to install electrochromatic ‘smart glass’ in the new Bentley Mulsanne Grand Limousine, as well as agreeing new projects with major automotive OEMs for complex low volume manufacturing of lightweight interior components and active aerodynamic solutions.

In addition, the business is continuing to work with established automotive OEMs including Porsche and Jaguar Land Rover.

As a result of the increased demand, Rob Marchant, managing director of MarchantCain, is tipping 2018 to be the company’s biggest growth year ever.

He said the team was already planning for the increase in work – even though the impact would not be felt for two years.
 
“We follow markets and trends to achieve customer requirements and in this instance focused on reducing weight by changing materials and challenging traditional functional norms,” he said.

“Light weighting of vehicles and active aerodynamics are moving higher up the OEM agenda and, as a result of spending years specialising in this field, we are really reaping the rewards.

“At a time when the business model for selling vehicles is changing to greater personalisation, OEMs are working to get more and more power and performance from their products. We can already anticipate that 2018 will be our biggest ever year as demand for vehicle customisation and light weighting continues to grow and we are already formulating our plan to scale up for this demand.”