GKN Driveline
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| Division | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Headquarters | Redditch, United Kingdom |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Products | Automotive components |
| Revenue | £2,688 million (2011) |
| £191 million (2011) | |
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Number of employees
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21,200 (2011) |
| Parent | GKN plc |
| Website | gkn.com/driveline |
GKN Driveline is a multinational automotive components manufacturer specialising in driveline technologies. A division of GKN plc, it employs around 22,000 people at 56 locations across 22 countries.
GKN Driveline is the world's largest producer of constant-velocity joints (CVJs), which it pioneered for use in automobiles. Its other products include sideshafts, propshafts, power transfer units, differentials, AWD couplings, disconnects, electric rear axles, and electric drive transmissions.
The origin of GKN (Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds) goes back to 1759, and the founding of the Dowlais Ironworks by the industrialists Thomas Lewis and Isaac Wilkinson. It has changed shape and direction many times to hold its place in the engineering industry. The company took part in the railway boom in the early 1800s with its production of iron, then steel in the 1860s and, after the First World War, the automotive industry.
In 1966 after being advised GKN Steel would be nationalised for the second time GKN bought CVJ market leaders Birfield Industries with its subsidiaries Hardy Spicer and Laycock Engineering with their interests and subsidiaries in Europe, Japan and the United States to save its BRD subsidiary. It was the start of the company's globalization. GKN establish a manufacturing presence in China in 1988. At the same time GKN Driveline was investing in and growing its business in India, Brazil and Mexico.
...transfer power from the engine to the wheels, allowing articulation and movement from steering and suspension. The three major elements are: inboard and outboard CVJs, including lubrication and sealing systems, and interconnecting shafts. The inboard joint is a plunging joint that allows the effective length of the sideshaft to adjust due to suspension movement. The outboard joint needs to transfer power effectively through a wide range of angles (up to 53 degrees).
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Wikipedia