Stopping Power

Automotive Industries,  May, 2001  by Don Sherman

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Italy's Brembo is the world's premier brake "brand" - and for good reason.

Brakes have always occupied the bottom rung of the chassis components ladder. Sold as commodities and installed in the darkest underbody reaches, brakes traditionally played last fiddle to stylish alloy wheels, low-profile radials and electronic shock absorbers. That is, until Italy's Brembo S.p.A. earned the respect and admiration of the world's exotic car builders -- Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin -- who in turn began highlighting Brembo's artfully finished aluminum calipers and cross-ventilated rotors as an integral part of their exterior-design statements.

Now Brembo brakes, embellished with their own logo or their OEM customers' name in milled aluminum letters, sparkle between the racy wheel spokes of every major concept car, 200-mph exotic, or high-end SUV that rolls across the world's auto show circuit. Brembo has duly stepped from the shadows into the limelight as the World's best-known brake "brand" and first and only brake-system boutique.

This new-found visibility has been great for the bottom line. In the past five years, Brembo has doubled in size to become a $420-million multinational enterprise. Last year's revenues were up 30 percent over 1999 and net profits grew by 21.5 percent. During a recent visit to the company's Curno, Italy, headquarters, Automotive Industries discovered Brembo in the thick of two major brake-business revolutions.

Throughout the 40 years of its existence, Brembo has demonstrated an uncanny ability to concentrate on the most interesting aspects of the brake business. The company's visionary founders sidestepped drum brakes to focus on discs just as they were gaining a foothold on European sports cars. Instead of developing its own friction materials and master cylinders, Brembo left those specialties to others. On the other hand, Brembo controis every step of caliper and rotor manufacturing from precision iron- and aluminum-casting to the assembly of Porsche corner modules. State-of-the-art machining centers select cutters from 100-unit tool belts.

When Enzo Ferrari asked Brembo for racing brakes a quarter century ago, Brembo responded enthusiastically. Today this firm is the brand of choice for Formula One, endurance racing, NASCAR, world rally championship, and every other major motorsports venue. But publicity isn't the carrot. Notes Brembo's racing director, Riccardo Cesarini, "Racing is the engine behind Brembo's innovation."

The most notable example of racing improving Brembo's production-brake expertise is carbon-composite materials capable of reducing rotor mass by two-thirds -- a potential unsprung-weight savings of 50 pounds per car. While Brembo is not the first to market with such brakes, it will probably lead the way to practical mass production. A pilot plant in Ottobrunn, Germany, is fine-tuning processes capable of shortening the manufacturing cycle from several months to a few hours.

While other brake makers are plotting a step-by-step path to brake-by-wire systems, Brembo expects to leap over the electro-hydraulic stage to an electromechanical system (see Q&A, pg.44). To serve the U.S. high-performance aftermarket, a Brembo.com website will soon list brake-system upgrade kits, application instructions and factory-recommended installers. Ironically, the world leader in performance brakes is currently on a runaway roll.

Brembo Historical Timeline

* 1961 Company founder Emilio Bombassel and his son Alberta opened a car-repair garage in Paladin a (near Milan), Italy.

* 1964 Began manufacturing brake rotors for Alfa Romeo.

* 1968 Commenced supply of brake rotors to the aftermarket.

* 1972 Began supplying original equipment brake hardware to Italian motorcycle manufacturer Moto Guzzi.

* 1975 Tapped by Ferrari to supply Formula One racing brakes.

* 1979 Commenced brake rotor production for light-truck applications.

* 1980 Introduced aluminum caliper design for high-performance BMW, Chrysler, Lancia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Porsche applications. Became exclusive supplier of Porsche brakes.

* 1983 Acquired by Kelsey-Hayes.

* 1990 New R&D headquarters established in Curno, Italy.

* 1993 Company managers, led by the Bombasseis, negotiated a leveraged buy-back of all Brembo interests. Alberta Bombassei becomes Brembo's president (His current title is president and CEO.)

* 1995 Commenced production of corner modules. (Current users are Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati and Porsche.)

* 1996 R&D efforts begun to commercialize carbon composite brake rotor materials.

* 2000 Acquired Britain's AP Racing and a majority share of Marchesini (magnesium motorcycle wheel maker). Established joint ventures with ZF to manufacture corner modules in South Africa and with Yuejin Motor Group in China to produce car and light-truck brakes. Began pilot production of carbon composite brake rotors at facility in Ottobrunn, Germany. Commenced development of brake-by-wire systems with SKF.