Dana Buys SME, Expands Electromobility Capability

January 15, 2019 - Dana Incorporated, Maumee, Ohio, has completed the acquisition of the SME Group, headquartered in Arzignano, Italy.

The global SME Group designs, engineers, and manufactures low-voltage AC induction and synchronous reluctance motors, inverters, and controls for a wide range of off-highway electric vehicle applications, including construction, material handling, agriculture, and automated-guided vehicles.

SME's low-voltage motors and inverters are designed primarily to meet the evolution of electrification in off-highway equipment. Adding them significantly expands Dana's range of electrified products. 

"Dana's acquisition of SME enhances our ability to address the electrification and hybridization needs of our customers, while also increasing the potential for incremental content per vehicle," said Jim Kamsickas, president and chief executive officer of Dana. Kamsickas added that SME's electric motor and inverter products largely support off-highway applications, so they complement the technologies Dana acquired when it bought TM4. TM4’s technologies focus mainly on light- and commercial-vehicle applications.

"Dana is equipped to provide complete e-Propulsion systems that balance the demands for performance, power density, and weight," said Christophe Dominiak, chief technology officer for Dana. "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."

Dana's existing portfolio of Spicer Electrified with TM4 motors and inverters combined with SME's low-voltage motors will expand the company's capabilities to applications ranging up to 250kW. 

The privately held SME Group employs more than 100 people and operates in China, Germany, Canada, and Italy.