The fastest growing contract in the German supply base this quarter is not an engine part. It is a battery component, and that single fact says more about where sourcing is heading than any anniversary announcement.
For a Tier 1 or Tier 2 supplier still quoting mostly ICE programmes, that shift in where new business gets written matters more than a production record set on a legacy line.
ElringKlinger has won a large series contract from BMW for battery cell contact systems tied to the new Neue Klasse platform, and the company now expects revenue growth well above the wider market. At the same time, Schaeffler’s Homburg plant has produced eight billion finger followers over 30 years, while its Hirschaid site has made 160 million roller tappets for the HEMI engine over 25 years, both genuine records on engine hardware. BorgWarner has added new variable cam timing contracts in Europe and China, including a lifecycle extension and volume increase deal with a European premium OEM, which keeps ICE programmes alive rather than opening new ones. And Skoda has started series production of the electric Epiq at Volkswagen Navarra in Pamplona, its first Spanish built model and another EV line inside the VW Group network.
A production milestone proves what a plant could do yesterday, not what it will be asked to make next.
A production milestone is proof of the past, not a guarantee for the next contract.
The supplier who stays on the next platform looks at three things:
↳ ElringKlinger’s BMW win sits in battery cell contact systems, not engine hardware, which shows where OEM sourcing teams are placing volume for the next platform generation.
↳ BorgWarner’s new VCT contracts extend the life of existing ICE programmes rather than open new ones, a reminder that a lifecycle extension is not the same as a new platform win.
↳ Skoda’s Epiq launch in Pamplona adds another EV line to the VW Group network, which means the call-offs a Tier 2 supplier depends on are shifting plant by plant, not all at once.
How much of your order book still depends on parts tied to the engine rather than the platform that replaces it?
If that number is hard to put on paper, that is usually where a first conversation starts. No pitch, just the position work I do with Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers.