SED.L Regulatory News (SED)

Wednesday 15 June 2022

Saietta Group plc

("Saietta", "the Company" or "the Group")

Operational Update on Light-duty Automotive Systems

Accelerated move into integrated e-drive systems enabled by advancement in software development and driven by customer demand

Progressing towards commercial scale production in the UK

Saietta Group plc (AIM SED), the international electric powertrain group, is pleased to provide an operational update on developments regarding its core Axial Flux Technology ("AFT") products which are principally targeted at the Light-duty automotive and e-drive sector.

Following the addition of the electric motor manufacturing facility in Sunderland, UK (the "Sunderland Factory") earlier this year, the Company has continued to make progress towards commencing the scaled-up production of AFT motors and other products.

Recent Developments

In response to market demand a key recent development in Saietta's business goal regarding its core AFT technology has been a move to prioritise the provision of fully integrated e-drive systems. By combining the Saietta AFT motor with integrated power electronics, a gearbox and a bespoke axle configuration the Company intends to capture vertically integrated margins as opposed to focusing on standalone motor sales. 

This is expected to materially enhance Saietta's long term revenue and margin prospects.

Saietta has previously aspired to offer such solutions however its ability to deliver integrated e-drive systems has been accelerated by the following factors:

· The addition, via the acquisition of e-Traction in November 2021, of automotive power electronics intellectual property, a proprietary software platform, powertrain control systems, an online diagnostics suite and the corresponding manufacturing capabilities. This has enabled Saietta to progress the development of its in-house integrated inverter for AFT products. This additional capability means that inverter and powertrain controls may be supplied to end customers fully integrated with AFT motors.

· The accelerated commercial success of Saietta's marine products subsidiary "Propel" which has developed an award winning fully integrated marine e-drive system and generated approximately €1.5 million of revenue in its first year of operations. This has proven the ability of the Group to leverage AFT technology into commercially successful vertically integrated e-drivetrain systems and get them to market within months.

· Initial contract wins for prototype integrated AFT140 based e-drive systems from four Light-duty vehicle manufacturers around the world: Ayro Inc (USA), Electric Assisted Vehicles Limited (UK), an established OEM of Light-duty vehicles in India, and a new European vehicle platform developer. Additionally, the Company is working on proof-of-concept e-drive system designs for two further potential high volume Light-duty commercial vehicle customers (based in India). Although at prototype stage, and with further milestones to be met, the Directors believe that collectively these activities have the potential to develop into volumes in excess of 87,000 integrated AFT140 e-drive systems per annum.

Commercial Production Scale-up

As a result of these commercial developments, Saietta will be prioritising the mass production of the AFT140 over other products in the AFT portfolio. 

Since the Sunderland Factory acquisition the Company has received further enquiries of interest from a range of European vehicle OEMs in different market segments, in addition to the above-mentioned commercial progress.

This evolution of the AFT business model towards the development and supply of integrated e-drive systems is expected to materially enhance Saietta's long term revenue and margin expectations. However, the Directors believe that the manufacturing scale-up of the product programme will require a greater investment than the original standalone motor supply plan. To allow for a strategic re-allocation of resources the scope for the development of the previously planned motor durability test centre has been reduced to a smaller facility purposed for internal testing only. The Directors believe that the accelerated move into complete e-drive systems can deliver greater revenue than the proposed test centre.

In March 2022, Saietta appointed David Pates as managing director of its Light-duty e-drive division. David joined from his previous role as the engineering director of Mahle Powertrain Ltd - formerly Cosworth Technology Group (until its acquisition from Audi in 2005). David's industry leading knowledge and expertise has been instrumental in the recent commercial progress.

Wicher (Vic) Kist, Chief Executive Officer of Saietta, commented:

"We are delighted that we are now in a position to offer customers fully integrated AFT e-drive system solutions. The acquisition of e-Traction has enabled us to reach this point sooner than expected and customer engagement has convinced us that this is the best commercial opportunity for delivering our AFT technology to market. Owning the power electronics and software development capabilities should allow us to help our customers to get their vehicle platforms to market faster.

We believe that this approach will enable Saietta to continue to grow into one of the world's leading Light-duty and Heavy-duty e-drive businesses and be a showcase of UK and European engineering and production excellence at this key stage in the transformation of the global automotive industry.

 We are also delighted that we can now manufacture these innovative products at our world-class automotive electric motor manufacturing facility in Sunderland - which has historically delivered over 25 million electric motors for automotive OEMs." 

-ENDS-

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About Saietta:

Saietta is an AIM-quoted, multi-national business which designs, engineers and manufactures complete Light-duty and Heavy-duty e-drive systems for electric vehicles on land from scooters to buses (Vehicle categories L, M, N and T) as well as marine applications.

Saietta has engineered breakthrough electric motor technology including proprietary AFT (Axial Flux Technology) and RFT (Radial Flux Technology) which can be combined with in-house power electronics, powertrain controls, mechanical axles and transmissions. The designs are unique and modular, delivering both high and low voltage electric drive solutions. Saietta's difference lies in its ability to conceive powertrain solutions tailored to deliver competitive advantage and its turnkey engineering services designed to fast-track electric vehicle manufacturers from concept to start of production.

To demonstrate the outstanding attributes of the AFT technology and the company also founded its own next-generation marine propulsion division Propel (www.propel.me) which delivers solutions for boating in the electric era that support the transition to decarbonization and clean mobility on waterways.