Ferodo® Celebrates More Than 125 Years of Braking Excellence

Source: Ferodo/Tenneco announcement

CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH, U.K.– Ferodo® has played a central role in the development of the motor and transportation industry since its foundation in 1897 by Herbert Frood (1864-1931). Frood was a British industrialist and entrepreneur who invented brake pads when he produced the first materials designed to brake horse-drawn carts in Chapel-en-le-Frith.

Frood gave his name to Ferodo, based on an anagram of his surname, and set in motion the start of the brand´s outstanding heritage and global reputation as an innovator in the braking business.

More than 125 years later, Ferodo brake products are found on one in every four new cars. Not only is Ferodo the original equipment (OE) choice for nearly 25 million vehicles a year, but it is also appreciated by customers in other global transportation segments as well as in the automotive aftermarket and among racing teams worldwide.

“It’s a unique privilege to be able to look back on Ferodo´s more than 125 years of braking excellence,” said Neville Rudd, Group Vice President and General Manager of Tenneco´s global OE Braking business. “But Ferodo is also constantly looking forward to new developments and technical solutions to keep its business – and that of its customers – ahead of the competition.”

Strong global engineering and manufacturing footprint

Tenneco´s Ferodo OE braking business today employs around 4,500 people in 11 manufacturing plants and 8 engineering centres worldwide. The home of Ferodo remains in Chapel-en-le-Frith where R&D and manufacturing activities are performed.

Broad portfolio of leading friction solutions for a variety of markets

Ferodo braking products are supplied as original equipment to virtually all major light vehicle (LV) and commercial vehicle (CV) manufacturers and are marketed in over 200 countries around the world. In addition to its strong position in the global LV and CV sectors, Tenneco´s braking business serves customers in the two-wheel segment as well as in the off-highway, agricultural, industrial and railways markets.

Some 52 percent of Tenneco´s OE global braking activity serves customers in Europe, with the balance in North America (28 percent) and Asia Pacific (20 percent). LVs account for around 75 percent of the global activity with CVs at approximately 18 percent and railway products at 7 percent (source: internal data).

For installers and end consumers, Ferodo friction products, which are fully homologated and meet all OE quality standards, are marketed and distributed through Tenneco´s DRiV aftermarket business. Today, Ferodo covers more than 98 percent of the European aftermarket for brake pads, offering parts for the vast majority of cars on the road. In addition, Ferodo´s aftermarket portfolio includes an extensive range of brake discs, shoes, hydraulics and accessories for light and commercial vehicles as well as disc brake pads for motorcycles, all-round and electric bikes.

Ferodo and Tenneco

Unparalleled track record of braking innovation

In 1901, Frood received a patent for brake blocks. These were the first commercial brake pads using friction materials that included cotton cloth filled with resin, camel hair, leather and wood. By 1907, commercial vehicles, trucks, and buses were using Ferodo products.

Ferodo was the first brand to supply original equipment linings for a mass-produced car when in 1922 linings were fitted to the Austin 7. The first Ferodo replacement linings were marketed in 1923. In 1956, Ferodo was also the first brand to supply disc pads for a mass-produced automobile, the Triumph TR3, fitted with disc brakes as standard.

Maintaining its innovator position, Ferodo was also the first to introduce non-asbestos brake materials, which were developed with many of the leading vehicle manufacturers around the world, leveraging the company’s advanced research and development (R&D) facilities and specific know-how on brake pad design and production. Ferodo asbestos-free materials were supplied as original equipment from 1980.

Since then, Ferodo has carried on setting the pace, with ground-breaking advances such as the first European non-asbestos brake pad, and the introduction of its low-copper and copper-free brake pad range in 2012, in the aftermarket known as Eco-Friction® braking technology products.

2019 marked the technical release of Ferodo´s advanced copper-free hybrid friction material composites for OE vehicle applications, combining the advantages of low steel (LS) and non-asbestos-organic (NAO) composites in one concept for brake pads. Simultaneously serving braking performance and comfort requirements in both internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric vehicles (EVs), the new hybrid friction material composites are expected to cover a range of different market demands with a single approach, also ensuring sufficient friction power for emergency braking purposes to comply with safety requirements.

To view the entire announcement, click HERE.

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