What American Axle & Manufacturing makes

American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM, NYSE: AXL) is a global Tier 1 automotive supplier built around two business units, Driveline and Metal Forming, that support internal combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicles. On the driveline side, AAM is a leader in rear-wheel, all-wheel, and four-wheel drive systems: front and rear beam axles, driveshafts and multi-piece propshafts, constant velocity joints, power transfer units, rear drive modules, and traction-enhancing differentials. Its named technologies include EcoTrac disconnecting all-wheel drive, the QUANTUM family of beam axles and AWD/RWD modules, TracRite differentials, and a growing line of electric and hybrid driveline products.

The Metal Forming unit is, by the company's own description, the largest automotive forging enterprise in the world. It runs hot, warm, and cold forging alongside gray and ductile iron casting, high-pressure die casting, powder metal, precision machining, grinding, and gear finishing. The output is the hard mechanical core of a vehicle: axle shafts, differential gears and cases, ring gears, planetary carriers, clutch plates, connecting rods, and the SmartBar electronic stabilizer system. AAM supplies these components to light-vehicle, commercial-vehicle, off-highway, and industrial customers. As a supplier operating deep in OEM programs, AAM sits at the Tier 1 layer, shipping complete systems directly to vehicle assembly plants.

Financial performance

For full-year 2024, the last complete fiscal year the company reported as American Axle & Manufacturing, AAM posted net sales of $6,124.9 million, up 0.75 percent from 2023. The company returned to profitability with net income of $35.0 million, or $0.29 per share, reversing a net loss of $33.6 million the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA reached $749.2 million, or 12.2 percent of sales, up from 11.4 percent in 2023, per the company's investor materials. For 2025, AAM narrowed its full-year target to sales between $5.8 billion and $5.9 billion with adjusted EBITDA of $710 million to $745 million. AAM carries a speculative-grade credit rating and meaningful leverage, typical of a capital-intensive driveline manufacturer, with no distress event on record and a return to positive earnings.

Ownership and history

American Axle became a standalone, independent Tier 1 supplier on March 1, 1994, when Richard E. Dauch and a group of investors purchased five driveline and forging plants that General Motors had put up for sale, including Detroit Gear & Axle, Detroit Forge, Buffalo Gear & Axle, Tonawanda Forge, and Three Rivers Propshaft. The manufacturing lineage on the Detroit headquarters site runs back to 1917, when GM built an aircraft-parts plant on the land where AAM's world headquarters now stands. The company is headquartered at One Dauch Drive in Detroit, Michigan, and operated nearly 75 facilities across 15 countries as a standalone AAM.

The corporate structure changed materially in early 2026. On February 3, 2026, American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings renamed itself Dauch Corporation (NYSE: DCH) and completed the acquisition of Dowlais Group plc, the parent of GKN Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy, in a cash-and-share combination. The combined company operates more than 175 locations in 24 countries. Day-to-day leadership carries over from AAM: David C. Dauch, son of the founder, serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, a role he has held since 2013; Christopher J. May is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Michael J. Lynch is President of Driveline; and Terri M. Kemp is Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff.

Certifications and quality

As a Tier 1 automotive supplier serving major OEMs, AAM operates under IATF 16949, the automotive quality management standard, across its manufacturing sites. Multi-site IATF 16949 certification is the sector norm for a driveline and forging supplier of this scale and is reported here as a company claim consistent with its OEM program work. AAM's programs run through PPAP and APQP discipline, the standard quality gates for launching parts into automotive production.

Known customers

AAM's customer base is documented in its public filings and is concentrated among North American OEMs.

General Motors is AAM's single largest customer, a concentration that has defined the company's revenue profile since its 1994 founding, when it inherited GM's rear-drive axle programs.

Sourcing evidence

AAM's US import record reads the way a global driveline manufacturer's should: 1,870 sea shipments since January 2015, dominated by automotive parts under HS chapter 87, and specifically HS 8708 vehicle parts, which account for 1,148 shipments. The most recent bill of lading on record is dated September 19, 2026, showing the lanes are active. Recent shipments name axle output shafts and brake flanges, the core mechanical parts AAM builds into finished driveline systems.

The supplier list points to a global, partly intercompany supply base. The top two foreign suppliers, AAM Auto Component India (245 shipments) and AAM India Manufacturing (113), are AAM's own India subsidiaries, so a large share of the import flow is intercompany. Beyond those, the record names Kinetic Engineering and GNA Axles in India, Primax and Hyundai WIA in South Korea, Kuznia Polska in Poland, and Di Bartolomeo in France. Origin countries are led by India (738 shipments) and South Korea (629), followed by Germany (144), Belgium, Italy, and China. Import volume is rising steeply: the trailing 12 months averaged 43.2 TEU per month against 11.5 in the 24-to-36-month window, a nearly fourfold increase. That trajectory sits alongside AAM's broader footprint expansion and the intercompany buildout from its India plants. For buyers weighing tariff exposure and nearshoring, the mix skews toward South and East Asian and European origins rather than domestic sourcing.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Air, truck, and rail movements do not appear; some records name freight intermediaries rather than manufacturers; and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does American Axle & Manufacturing make?

American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM) makes automotive driveline and metal-forming products. Its driveline portfolio includes front and rear axles, driveshafts, constant velocity joints, power transfer units, all-wheel drive modules, and electric and hybrid driveline systems. Its metal-forming unit, the largest automotive forging enterprise in the world by the company's account, produces axle shafts, differential gears and cases, ring gears, connecting rods, and castings.

Who owns American Axle & Manufacturing?

American Axle & Manufacturing is publicly traded. It listed on the NYSE under the ticker AXL after being founded in 1994 by Richard E. Dauch and investors from purchased General Motors driveline and forging plants. On February 3, 2026, the parent company renamed itself Dauch Corporation (NYSE: DCH) and completed the acquisition of Dowlais Group, the parent of GKN Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy.

Who are American Axle & Manufacturing's customers?

AAM's largest customer is General Motors, for which it is the primary driveline supplier on full-size rear-wheel-drive trucks, SUVs, and crossovers. It also supplies Stellantis, notably for heavy-duty Ram pickups, and Ford, for programs including the Bronco Sport, Maverick, Edge, Escape, and Lincoln Nautilus. These relationships are documented in AAM's SEC filings.

What was American Axle & Manufacturing's revenue?

American Axle & Manufacturing reported full-year 2024 net sales of $6,124.9 million, up 0.75 percent from 2023, with net income of $35.0 million and adjusted EBITDA of $749.2 million (12.2 percent of sales). For 2025, the company targeted sales of $5.8 billion to $5.9 billion. Combined figures after the February 2026 Dowlais acquisition are reported under the Dauch Corporation name.

Where is American Axle & Manufacturing headquartered?

American Axle & Manufacturing is headquartered at One Dauch Drive, Detroit, Michigan 48211. As a standalone AAM it operated nearly 75 facilities across 15 countries; following the 2026 combination with Dowlais, the company operates more than 175 locations in 24 countries.

Last verified September 27, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.