GKN Driveline has announced the opening of a state-of-the-art engineering facility at the MIRA Technology Park, UK, to aide the test and development of future driveline technologies.
The company states that the all-new, bespoke facility will enable it to ‘develop the integration of its driveline technology within the vehicles of global automotive customers’. In addition, the GKN Driveline Vehicle Engineering Centre has been designed to offer ‘comprehensive’ facilities for the installation of prototypes, instrumentation and subsequent road and track evaluation of test cars. The facility will support customers’ current and future model development, as well as the development of GKN’s own driveline and torque technologies.
“Our new facility at MIRA Technology Park provides our engineering teams with the resources to ensure GKN Driveline’s systems and technology continues to lead the industry, helping to improve both the performance and efficiency of our customers’ vehicles,” explaine GKN Automotive president of technology, Peter Moelgg (Pictured, above left). “This investment signals our commitment to the UK automotive industry and marks our position as a technology leader in the sector.
“GKN is developing ever more integrated driveline systems and MIRA Technology Park is an ideal location for us to work on those systems with our customers and test them on the proving ground,” he continued. “MIRA is at the heart of the UK automotive industry and there is a tangible buzz around the park, so we are very pleased to be in this new facility.”
MIRA’s Technology Park is a 1.75million sq ft enterprise zone based in the UK’s Midlands. GKN’s 2,000 sq ft facility consists of a test garage with three vehicle access ramps, an instrumentation room and workshop, in addition to office space with meeting facilities. GKN Driveline has had a presence at MIRA for over 30 years, but this new state-of-the-art facility marks a significant upgrade of its test facilities and capabilities.
“GKN Driveline is a very welcome addition to MIRA Technology Park, and we are delighted they have chosen to expand their presence at MIRA with their new engineering centre,” explained George Gillespie OBE, CEO at MIRA. “MIRA Technology Park has been purposely created to offer automotive businesses such as GKN the ideal location for their R&D operations. By choosing MIRA for this centre, GKN are not only able to take advance of an entirely bespoke and secure facility, but also take advantage of MIRA’s extensive research and testing facilities, which are right on their doorstep.”
