Mahle acquires thermostat specialist Behr Thermot-tronik Italia

Behr Thermot-tronik Italia, which has been renamed Mahle Behr Grugliasco, develops and produces a broad range of thermostat products for use in all vehicle classes

Autocar Pro News Desk By Autocar Pro News Desk calendar 04 Sep 2018 Views icon7912 Views Share - Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to LinkedIn Share to Whatsapp
Map-controlled thermostats ensure precise temperature regulation.

Map-controlled thermostats ensure precise temperature regulation.

The Mahle Group has acquired all the shares in the former joint venture Behr Thermot-tronik Italia SpA (BTTI), which has been renamed Mahle Behr Grugliasco SpA with immediate effect. The former shareholders, Mahle Behr Kornwestheim GmbH and Valtri SpA, have agreed to this step  to pursue the long-term, future-oriented focus and successful ongoing development of BTTI.

At its headquarters in Grugliasco near Turin in northern Italy, the company develops and produces a broad range of thermostat products for use in all vehicle classes. The employment contracts of the currently around 120 employees are expected to remain unchanged, and no physical relocations are planned.

“We are delighted that the employees of BTTI will now belong fully to Mahle. Their skills and experience will secure the successful development of Mahle Behr Grugliasco and therefore also of Mahle,” said Bernd Eckl, Member of the Management Board and responsible for the Thermal Management business unit at Mahle.

Mahle says BTTI’s products are already an important component of its portfolio, as complex thermal management tasks within the vehicle can only be realised by intelligently controlling the energy flows that arise. Control systems such as map-controlled thermostats ensure precise temperature regulation tuned to meet demand and thus promote more efficient operation, reduced consumption, less wear, and lower emissions.

“Aside from the technological aspect, Mahle also benefits from the BTTI team’s excellent reputation, extensive expertise, and outstanding customer relationships in the Italian market. This applies both to the original equipment and the spare parts businesses,” said Arnd Franz, Member of the Management Board and responsible for Automotive Sales and Application Engineering as well as for the Aftermarket business unit at Mahle.

As a result of the acquisition, the Italian thermostat specialist will now benefit fully from the systems competence and global network of the Mahle supplier group.

“For us, it was important to offer employees long-term, future-oriented prospects. We believe that Mahle’s acquisition offers the best opportunity for BTTI to continue developing successfully,” said Franco Triberti, representative of the former shareholder family.

In turn, Mahle expands its strategically significant thermal management product portfolio. Efficient thermal management is becoming increasingly important, irrespective of the powertrain configuration. In internal combustion drives, the cooling system plays an important part in making vehicles even more efficient. For electric vehicles, the economical use of hot and cold flows is the basis for performance, cruising range, and service life. Integrated, efficient, and intelligent thermal management is therefore a prerequisite for e-mobility.

Behr Thermot-tronik Italia was created in 1997 from Behr Thomson Italia. Since it was founded, the joint venture has worked closely with Behr Thermot-tronik’s other entities. These have already been fully integrated in the MAHLE Group for some time as part of Mahle’s majority acquisition of Behr in 2013.

RELATED ARTICLES
BMW uses Catena-X ecosystem using real-world CO2 data to enhance quality

auther Autocar Pro News Desk calendar26 Apr 2024

Working together with partners and suppliers, the company has modelled a complete data chain for the first time using re...

Toyota to invest $1.4 billion in Indiana plant for new electric SUV

auther Autocar Pro News Desk calendar26 Apr 2024

The investment will go towards building the all-new BEV as well as a new battery pack assembly line using lithium-ion ba...

Kia displays EV5 and Sonet SUVs for Chinese market

auther Autocar Pro News Desk calendar25 Apr 2024

Kia has unveiled a number of key models and new technologies for Chinese customers at the 2024 Beijing International Aut...