Brembo leads the world in the design and production of high-performance braking systems and components for top-flight manufacturers of cars, motorbikes and commercial vehicles. Founded in 1961 in Italy, the company has a long-standing reputation for providing innovative solutions for OEMs and aftermarket. It also competes in the most challenging motorsport championships in the world and has won over 600 titles.
Guided by its strategic vision – “Turning Energy into Inspiration” – Brembo’s ambition is to help shape the future of mobility through cutting-edge, digital and sustainable solutions. With about 15,000 people across 15 countries, 30 production and business sites, 8 R&D centers and with a turnover of € 3,629 million in 2022, Brembo is the trusted solution provider for everyone who demands the best driving experience.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
BREMBO: The Brembo Group designs, develops, manufactures, assembles and sells braking systems, motorbike wheels and castings in light alloy and metal. It supplies high-performance braking components and systems for the original equipment and aftermarket, as well as clutches and other racing components, to the most important manufacturers of cars, motorbikes and commercial vehicles worldwide.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
BREMBO: Brembo’s products for cars include brake discs, brake calipers, wheelend modules and complete braking systems, inclusive of the integrated engineering services that accompany the development of new models for car manufacturers. In addition to its Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) line, Brembo also provides components to the aftermarket segment, offering a wide range suited to nearly all vehicles on the road in Europe, including brake discs, pads, drums, brake shoes, drum brake kits and hydraulic components. For Motorbikes it produces brake discs and calipers, but also brake pumps, light alloy wheels and complete braking systems, intended for the models offered by the world’s most prestigious manufacturers. Europe, the United States and the Asian countries are the most important markets for Brembo in this area. For commercial vehicles the range of products includes components for original equipment brake systems for manufacturers of commercial and industrial vehicles of all kinds (light and medium) and discs for heavy vehicles. In addition to its OEM line, Brembo offers replacement parts and maintenance products for commercial vehicle brake systems. And finally racing, for which it offers the design and manufacture of braking systems and clutches for the racing sector, intended for teams participating in major racing competitions. Despite its limited impact on revenues, it is a market of strategic importance for the Group since it is a frontier sector for innovation by Brembo. The most advanced products, technologies, production concepts and cutting-edge development methods are conceived for the racing market and the benefits then trickle down to the series production designed by the Group for its customers. The racing line is rounded out by a range of products intended for enthusiasts, preparers and, more generally, those who wish to improve the look and performance of their vehicles using parts ready for the track.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed? What’s the news about new products?
BREMBO: Brembo has always paid special attention to environmental issues in the development of its products. Since the introduction of Brembo’s new vision to be a solution provider, the company’s guiding principle has been that new products should always be more environmentally friendly than their predecessors.
SENSIFY™ is the pioneering intelligent braking system of Brembo that has evolved naturally from company’s heritage and know-how. It combines the current Brembo product portfolio of calipers, discs and friction materials with digital technology and artificial intelligence to create a flexible and evolutionary platform that includes software, predictive algorithms and data management to control the brake system digitally, and individually customize brake response to enhance driving pleasure.
SENSIFY™ combines the design of the best braking components with the integration of a digital brain and sensors that control each wheel independently. The result is an outstanding car handling, performance and confidence: a unique driving experience in terms of driving pleasure and total safety.
Lately, Brembo has released the Brembo Beyond product line for the automotive Aftermarket, the company’s replacement range tailored to improve the driving dynamics of the new mobility generation geared towards sustainability.
This product family includes the Brembo Beyond EV Kit that consists of specially coated discs and innovative brake pads, tailor-made for the most popular electric cars on the market. It has been achieved thanks to both innovative materials and ultra-modern technologies used during the development process. These components, used together, are quieter and more resistant to oxidation. Furthermore, a special copper-free friction material with a galvanised backing plate reduced both dust and noise when braking. This means that they last longer, which brings benefits on two fronts: total cost of ownership and sustainability.
Another product for the Aftermarket, the Greenance Kit Concept, guarantees the highest technical and quality standards. It ensures a much lower environmental impact with a significant reduction in emissions: 83% in PM102 and 80% in PM2.5. These solutions have already achieved the ECE-R90 homologation tests as well as the most severe benchmark road tests, which are conducted by the company’s technicians, according to Brembo’s stringent requirements.
The Enesys spring also contributes significantly to emission reduction by reducing residual braking torque and thus wear on brake discs and pads.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active? What can you tell us about market trends?
BREMBO: Electrification, digitalisation, autonomous driving and environmental sustainability are macro-trends that have been at the centre of the automotive world and the strategies of the market’s main players for some years. Within this scenario, Brembo has been pursuing its mission of becoming a Solution Provider by proactively rising to the challenges posed by the ongoing transformation, focusing on the needs and desires of the new generations, which will be the users of tomorrow. Brembo continues to invest significantly in innovation, driven by its vision “Turning Energy into Inspiration”, which encourages the Group to extend its sphere of influence to embrace energy management in its broader meaning, not only in terms of components, but also in its role as authoritative systems provider. In addition to innovative hydraulic and mechanical components, innovation is also applied in terms of software and artificial intelligence: this combination allows to aim at a high added-value product and service integration in order to anticipate the new mobility paradigms.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2023?
BREMBO: Brembo closed 2022 on a satisfactory note. In terms of revenues, margins and net profit, we reported the highest figures ever in the Company’s history. All the main segments in which we operate contributed to this result. This milestone was reached in spite of the complexities of a year especially marked by the consequences of the war in Ukraine and persistent inflation pressures on the raw material markets.
The strategy that has been outlined in the past few years has proven capable to effectively maintain Brembo’s competitiveness at the highest levels, in a context that remains challenging. The innovation of our solutions continues to be focussed on digitalisation and sustainability. The development of our innovative smart braking system Sensify, as well as the frontier research of the California-based Brembo Inspiration Lab, is heading in this direction. To further support this path, we announced the incorporation of Brembo Ventures, our new venture capital unit tasked with investing in the best technological start-ups.
We have entered the new year aware that the results achieved in 2022 will be the foundation for continuing to invest in our future.