Operational Update
15/06/2022 07:00
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RNS Number : 8787O Saietta Group PLC 15 June 2022
Wednesday 15 June 2022
Saietta Group plc
("Saietta", "the Company" or "the Group")
Operational Update on Light-duty Automotive Systems
Accelerated move into integrated e-drive systems enabled by advancement in
software development and driven by customer demand
Progressing towards commercial scale production in the UK
Saietta Group plc (AIM SED), the international electric powertrain group, is
pleased to provide an operational update on developments regarding its core
Axial Flux Technology ("AFT") products which are principally targeted at the
Light-duty automotive and e-drive sector.
Following the addition of the electric motor manufacturing facility in
Sunderland, UK (the "Sunderland Factory") earlier this year, the Company has
continued to make progress towards commencing the scaled-up production of AFT
motors and other products.
Recent Developments
In response to market demand a key recent development in Saietta's business
goal regarding its core AFT technology has been a move to prioritise the
provision of fully integrated e-drive systems. By combining the Saietta AFT
motor with integrated power electronics, a gearbox and a bespoke axle
configuration the Company intends to capture vertically integrated margins as
opposed to focusing on standalone motor sales.
This is expected to materially enhance Saietta's long term revenue and margin
prospects.
Saietta has previously aspired to offer such solutions however its ability to
deliver integrated e-drive systems has been accelerated by the following
factors:
· The addition, via the acquisition of e-Traction in November 2021,
of automotive power electronics intellectual property, a proprietary software
platform, powertrain control systems, an online diagnostics suite and the
corresponding manufacturing capabilities. This has enabled Saietta to
progress the development of its in-house integrated inverter for AFT products.
This additional capability means that inverter and powertrain controls may be
supplied to end customers fully integrated with AFT motors.
· The accelerated commercial success of Saietta's marine products
subsidiary "Propel" which has developed an award winning fully integrated
marine e-drive system and generated approximately €1.5 million of revenue in
its first year of operations. This has proven the ability of the Group to
leverage AFT technology into commercially successful vertically integrated
e-drivetrain systems and get them to market within months.
· Initial contract wins for prototype integrated AFT140 based
e-drive systems from four Light-duty vehicle manufacturers around the world:
Ayro Inc (USA), Electric Assisted Vehicles Limited (UK), an established OEM of
Light-duty vehicles in India, and a new European vehicle platform developer.
Additionally, the Company is working on proof-of-concept e-drive system
designs for two further potential high volume Light-duty commercial vehicle
customers (based in India). Although at prototype stage, and with further
milestones to be met, the Directors believe that collectively these activities
have the potential to develop into volumes in excess of 87,000 integrated
AFT140 e-drive systems per annum.
Commercial Production Scale-up
As a result of these commercial developments, Saietta will be prioritising the
mass production of the AFT140 over other products in the AFT portfolio.
Since the Sunderland Factory acquisition the Company has received further
enquiries of interest from a range of European vehicle OEMs in different
market segments, in addition to the above-mentioned commercial progress.
This evolution of the AFT business model towards the development and supply of
integrated e-drive systems is expected to materially enhance Saietta's long
term revenue and margin expectations. However, the Directors believe that the
manufacturing scale-up of the product programme will require a greater
investment than the original standalone motor supply plan. To allow for a
strategic re-allocation of resources the scope for the development of the
previously planned motor durability test centre has been reduced to a smaller
facility purposed for internal testing only. The Directors believe that the
accelerated move into complete e-drive systems can deliver greater revenue
than the proposed test centre.
In March 2022, Saietta appointed David Pates as managing director of its
Light-duty e-drive division. David joined from his previous role as the
engineering director of Mahle Powertrain Ltd - formerly Cosworth Technology
Group (until its acquisition from Audi in 2005). David's industry leading
knowledge and expertise has been instrumental in the recent commercial
progress.
Wicher (Vic) Kist, Chief Executive Officer of Saietta, commented:
"We are delighted that we are now in a position to offer customers fully
integrated AFT e-drive system solutions. The acquisition of e-Traction has
enabled us to reach this point sooner than expected and customer engagement
has convinced us that this is the best commercial opportunity for delivering
our AFT technology to market. Owning the power electronics and software
development capabilities should allow us to help our customers to get their
vehicle platforms to market faster.
We believe that this approach will enable Saietta to continue to grow into one
of the world's leading Light-duty and Heavy-duty e-drive businesses and be a
showcase of UK and European engineering and production excellence at this key
stage in the transformation of the global automotive industry.
We are also delighted that we can now manufacture these innovative products
at our world-class automotive electric motor manufacturing facility in
Sunderland - which has historically delivered over 25 million electric motors
for automotive OEMs."
-ENDS-
For any further enquiries, please contact:
Saietta Group via FTI
Wicher (Vic) Kist, Group Chief Executive Officer
Steven Harrison, Group Chief Financial Officer
Canaccord Genuity (Nomad and Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 207 523 8000
Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor
Patrick Dolaghan
FTI Consulting (Financial PR advisor) Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000
Ben Brewerton saietta@fticonsulting.com
Dhruv Soni
About Saietta:
Saietta is an AIM-quoted, multi-national business which designs, engineers and
manufactures complete Light-duty and Heavy-duty e-drive systems for electric
vehicles on land from scooters to buses (Vehicle categories L, M, N and T) as
well as marine applications.
Saietta has engineered breakthrough electric motor technology including
proprietary AFT (Axial Flux Technology) and RFT (Radial Flux Technology) which
can be combined with in-house power electronics, powertrain controls,
mechanical axles and transmissions. The designs are unique and modular,
delivering both high and low voltage electric drive solutions. Saietta's
difference lies in its ability to conceive powertrain solutions tailored to
deliver competitive advantage and its turnkey engineering services designed to
fast-track electric vehicle manufacturers from concept to start of production.
To demonstrate the outstanding attributes of the AFT technology and the
company also founded its own next-generation marine propulsion division Propel
(www.propel.me (http://www.propel.me) ) which delivers solutions for boating
in the electric era that support the transition to decarbonization and clean
mobility on waterways.
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