GKN lifts eDrive sales forecasts as it fends off Melrose bid

Having rejected a £7bn hostile bid from Melrose Industries last week, GKN sought to highlight its potential as a standalone entity on Monday, lifting sales forecasts for its electric driveline (eDrive) business.

The engineer said it now expects sales in the unit to increase over eight-fold to £275m in 2020, up from a previous forecast of £200m and £33m in 2017. In 2022, the group expects eDrive dales to reach £500m.

The company said the order book for eDrive hit a record £2bn by the end of last year following a number of significant programme wins with major automakers, adding that the division's growth "underpins and extends GKN's market-leading position in eDrive systems".

Phil Swash, chief executive of GKN Automotive, said: "Customers worldwide choose to work with GKN on their electric programmes because of our real-world experience in eDrive systems. Whilst our competitors talk about the potential of their technologies, we have proven history of delivering innovative electric driveline systems in customers’ cars on the road.

Our leading vehicle and systems integration capabilities help deliver the performance our customers demand and that’s why they come to us ahead of our competition. Our strong order book reflects the partnerships we have developed with our customers and the confidence they have in GKN. We are well positioned to capitalise on the strong market growth in hybrid and electric vehicles and this is underpinned by our substantial order book."