What ITT Motion Technologies makes

ITT Motion Technologies is the transportation-components segment of ITT Inc. (NYSE: ITT). It manufactures brake pads, shock absorbers, and rail energy-absorption components through three business units. ITT Friction Technologies makes brake pads installed as original equipment on passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, and heavier vehicles, plus aftermarket pads, with formulations engineered for internal-combustion, hybrid, and electric platforms. KONI makes hydraulic shock absorbers and dampers for rail vehicles, automotive racing, buses, trucks, trailers, and defense applications, including primary, lateral, and inter-car dampers, yaw dampers, and buffers. Axtone, acquired by ITT in 2016 and 2017, makes impact energy-absorption technology, push-pull couplers, and springs for passenger and freight rolling stock in rail, metro, and tram systems.

Friction is positioned around electric-vehicle braking, where regenerative braking changes how pads wear and perform. The segment reports multiple hybrid and EV platform awards from established and new OEMs. Its flagship development product is the ITT Smart Pad, a sensorized brake pad developed in Lainate, Italy that measures temperature, torque, drag, vibration, noise, and wear in real time and feeds that data into ITT's brake-system development tool, letting OEMs and caliper makers shorten the brake-system development cycle. As a Tier 1 supplier, the segment sells both to automakers directly and to braking-system integrators.

Financial performance

Motion Technologies is a large, high-margin segment. It reported revenue of $1,447.8 million in fiscal 2024, roughly flat against $1,457.8 million in 2023, with the small decline driven by ITT's July 2024 divestiture of the Wolverine Advanced Materials business rather than by demand. Segment operating income was $314.6 million in 2024, an operating margin of about 21.7 percent, which places the segment among the more profitable in the automotive supply base. Motion Technologies contributes a meaningful share of ITT Inc., whose total revenue was about $3.6 billion in 2024 across roughly 11,700 employees in 39 countries. Continental is the segment's largest customer at 17 percent of segment revenue and about 7 percent of total ITT revenue in 2024.

Ownership and history

ITT Motion Technologies is a reporting segment of ITT Inc., a diversified industrial manufacturer headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under ITT. ITT traces its corporate lineage to 1920, and the segment's brands carry their own long histories: KONI has made dampers in the Netherlands for the better part of a century, and Axtone's rail heritage runs through central Europe. ITT assembled the current segment through acquisitions and organic expansion, including the 2016 and 2017 purchase of the Axtone rail business, then reshaped the portfolio in 2024 by selling Wolverine for about $171 million to concentrate on friction, dampers, and rail.

The parent carries investment-grade credit ratings: S&P rates ITT BBB, Moody's rates it Baa1 after a November 2024 upgrade, and Fitch rates it BBB+, all with a stable outlook reaffirmed in December 2025. That backing matters for buyers assessing supplier resilience, because it signals a conservative capital structure and the financial flexibility to fund the multi-year tooling and capacity investments that OE brake programs require.

Plants and manufacturing footprint

The segment runs a multi-country plant network built around automotive braking. ITT Friction Technologies operates production and research in Barge, Italy, its European center, and announced a roughly 50-million-euro investment in 2023 to expand into high-performance brake pads at Termoli, Italy alongside R&D upgrades in Barge. Friction also runs plants in Wuxi, China, where ITT invested close to $50 million over three years, and in Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico, opened in 2017 and 2018 to serve North and South American OEMs. A large ITT site in Ostrava, Czech Republic, established in 2008 and employing more than 700 people, runs both Friction and KONI rail-damper programs. R&D for friction materials is anchored in Novi, Michigan. KONI is based in Oud-Beijerland, Netherlands, and Axtone is centered in Kanczuga, Poland.

Certifications and quality

Automotive brake pads are safety-critical parts, and OE production for global automakers is built on the IATF 16949 automotive quality-management standard, which is the sector norm across the segment's OE plants. ITT reports advanced automation, environmental management, and quality systems across Motion Technologies sites, and describes APQP and validated development processes as standard practice for winning and running OE platforms. These are reported as the company's own claims and the prevailing standard for OE friction manufacturing.

Known customers

The segment discloses one large concentration and several documented programs. Continental is the largest customer at 17 percent of segment revenue in fiscal 2024, buying brake pads for integrated braking systems and marketing an ITT aftermarket brand. ITT has publicly announced OE brake-pad supply for German premium platforms, including the BMW 5 Series, and reports repeated hybrid and EV platform wins. In an earlier snapshot from 2011, ITT Friction was described as holding about 15 percent of the global OE brake-pad market and about 34 percent of the European OE market; those are dated figures and are noted here as historical rather than current.

Recent news

July 2024 — ITT completed the divestiture of Wolverine Advanced Materials, an automotive damping and sealing business, for about $171 million, concentrating Motion Technologies on friction, KONI, and rail (ITT second-quarter 2024 earnings release).

June 2023 — ITT announced a roughly 50-million-euro investment to expand into high-performance brake pads for luxury and sporting vehicles at its Termoli, Italy plant, with R&D upgrades in Barge (ITT and BusinessWire).

2017 to 2018 — ITT opened a new automotive friction facility in Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico to bring brake-pad manufacturing closer to North and South American OE customers (aftermarketNews).

Frequently asked questions

What does ITT Motion Technologies make?

ITT Motion Technologies makes brake pads, shock absorbers, and rail energy-absorption components. It operates through three business units: ITT Friction Technologies (OE and aftermarket brake pads, including EV-specific formulations and the sensorized Smart Pad), KONI (hydraulic dampers for rail, racing, commercial vehicles, and defense), and Axtone (rail couplers and springs).

Who owns ITT Motion Technologies?

ITT Motion Technologies is a reporting segment of ITT Inc., a diversified industrial manufacturer headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ITT. ITT Inc. carries investment-grade credit ratings from S&P, Moody's, and Fitch.

How big is ITT Motion Technologies?

The segment reported $1,447.8 million in revenue in fiscal 2024 at about a 21.7 percent operating margin, with $314.6 million in segment operating income. Its parent, ITT Inc., generated about $3.6 billion in total revenue in 2024 with roughly 11,700 employees across 39 countries.

Where are ITT Motion Technologies plants located?

The segment's brake-pad and damper plants span Italy (Barge, Termoli, Lainate), the Czech Republic (Ostrava), China (Wuxi), Mexico (Silao), the Netherlands (KONI in Oud-Beijerland), and Poland (Axtone in Kanczuga). Friction-materials R&D is based in Novi, Michigan.

Who are ITT Motion Technologies customers?

Continental is the largest customer, at 17 percent of segment revenue in fiscal 2024. ITT has publicly supplied OE brake pads for premium platforms including the BMW 5 Series and reports multiple hybrid and electric-vehicle platform wins with established and new automakers.

What is the ITT Smart Pad?

The ITT Smart Pad is a sensorized brake pad developed in Lainate, Italy. Sensors embedded in the pad measure temperature, torque, drag, vibration, noise, and wear in real time, feeding data into ITT's brake-system development tool to help OEMs and caliper makers shorten development cycles.

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