Issue #4 · September 2026 · Scoring window: August 1–31, 2026 · 5 of 23 suppliers scored
Issue #4 is earnings month, and the ledger shows it: four of the five scored entries are financial tiers. Nisshinbo — the supplier whose pending data expired off the Watch List last month — ends its sweep with a half-year filing that puts brake sales up 5.7%. ITT’s Friction business grows through a flat market again. Brembo adds a fourth scored month with BOLDIKA, the most powerful caliper it has built for a passenger vehicle, headed for a 9,000-pound pickup. On the other side of the ledger, Aumovio’s brake-relevant segment shrank 9.6% in the first half and Akebono’s quarter landed inside the −3% to −10% band. Five suppliers score in August; the untouched list drops to twelve.
The interactive board, every receipt, and the full season standings are live at oe.thebrakereport.com.
This month’s movers
Brembo · +4
+4 — Product unveiling. Unveiled BOLDIKA, a six-piston fixed caliper that pairs an aluminum body with a cast-iron central bridge and produces more than 8,500 Nm of braking torque — the most powerful caliper Brembo has built for a passenger-vehicle application and its first entry into the heavy-duty pickup segment. It launches with a Brembo disc on the Chevrolet Silverado EV RST Stars and Steel Edition in 2026, in Torch Red with Chevrolet and Brembo co-branding, before extending to additional trucks and SUVs. Scored as a product unveiling; Brembo has not separately confirmed start of series production, so the +8 launch tier does not apply. Source: Brembo announcement, August 13, 2026.
Why it matters. A 9,000-pound electric pickup is the hardest braking problem in the consumer market, and Brembo answered it with iron where it counts and aluminum where it doesn’t — then put its name on the caliper of a Chevrolet. Heavy-duty trucks were the last large North American segment where Brembo had no OE presence; BOLDIKA is the entry ticket. At 22 season points the lead over second place is eleven, and Brembo has now scored in all four months.
ITT Motion Technologies · +3
+3 — Segment revenue +3% to +10%. Motion Technologies posted second-quarter revenue of $386.0 million, up 5.6% year over year on a reported basis (organic +1.6%; the balance favorable currency), with operating margin up 180 basis points to 21.3%. ITT attributed the growth to market-share gains, citing Friction aftermarket strength and continued Friction OE outperformance versus underlying vehicle production. Published August 6 for the quarter ended July 4. ITT also raised full-year group guidance; the guidance tier is not applied because the outlook spans three segments, only one of which is brake-relevant. Source: ITT Q2 2026 earnings release (SEC 8-K), August 6, 2026.
Why it matters. Two straight quarters of Friction growth against a market that is not growing. The reported figure clears the +3 tier and the organic figure does not; the Rankings score what was reported, consistent with the Issue #1 ruling. The more telling number is the 300-plus basis points of OE outperformance ITT keeps citing. That is program share, and somebody else in the friction universe is losing it.
Nisshinbo · +3
+3 — Segment revenue +3% to +10%. Automobile Brakes segment net sales of ¥29,885 million for the six months to June 30, up 5.7% year over year, with segment profit up 6.2% to ¥1,899 million. Nisshinbo attributed the growth to higher orders from Japanese customers in North America, primarily for hybrid vehicles, and an order recovery in South Korea, partly offset by lower orders in China and Thailand. Disclosed August 6 in the English-language consolidated results, which carry full segment data. Source: Nisshinbo Holdings consolidated financial results, six months ended June 30, 2026, August 6, 2026.
Why it matters. Nisshinbo spent two issues on the Watch List waiting for a brakes-segment figure that never surfaced in English, then expired under the two-issue rule — and the half-year filing delivered the number the quarterly summaries had not. It enters the board at +3 and ends a three-month sweep. The receipts method is only as fast as the disclosure, and this is the case that proves the point in the supplier’s favor.
Under pressure
Aumovio · −2
−2 — Segment revenue −3% to −10%. Safety and Motion — the business area housing brake systems — reported first-half adjusted sales of €3.4 billion, down 9.6% from €3.7 billion, which Aumovio attributed mainly to lower production volumes and currency effects. Segment adjusted EBIT fell to €29 million from €156 million on special effects related to the BMW settlement. Disclosed August 6. The company also narrowed full-year group guidance to €17.0–17.5 billion in sales and a 3.0–4.0% adjusted EBIT margin, from up to €18.5 billion and 5.0% previously; the point schedule has no tier for a guidance reduction. Source: Aumovio H1 2026 press release, August 6, 2026.
Why it matters. The first-half figure lands inside the −3% to −10% band, but the trajectory is the story: the segment was down 7.2% in the first quarter, which means the second quarter was worse. Aumovio drops to the bottom of the season standings at −9, with a −5 divestiture — the Mechelen plant sale completed September 2 — already waiting in the next window. The BMW settlement bought its by-wire future; the ledger is recording what it cost.
Akebono · −2
−2 — Segment revenue −3% to −10%. Consolidated net sales of ¥37,215 million for the quarter ended June 30, down 6.7% from ¥39,872 million a year earlier, with operating profit up 3.6% and net income of ¥54 million against a prior-year loss. Akebono is substantially a pure brake supplier, so the consolidated figure is the brake-relevant number, consistent with the Issue #1 treatment. Disclosed August 6. Source: Akebono Brake Industry Q1 FY2026 consolidated results, August 6, 2026.
Why it matters. A profitable quarter on shrinking sales is the shape of the Akebono turnaround: fewer plants, less revenue, a thin positive margin. The Guangzhou stake sale that should have been a −5 divestiture never surfaced in English confirmation and drops off the Watch List under the two-issue rule — the second time this season that a Japanese supplier’s disclosure timing, not its performance, decided what the board shows.
Watch list
Aumovio — Timing rule. Two September events are queued for Issue #5. On September 2 Aumovio completed the sale of its Mechelen, Belgium electronic brake systems plant to the Dumarey Group, transferring about 300 employees under a contract-manufacturing transition — the second European brake plant divested this season, and a −5 divestiture when it scores. On September 10 it unveiled a distributed electrohydraulic brake-by-wire system and announced a first series order from a Chinese automaker for end-2027 production; the unveiling is a +4 candidate, the order intake has no tier.
ZF — Timing rule. ZF built its 10 millionth Integrated Brake Control unit at Fowlerville, Michigan, in early September — the plant now runs about 6,500 units a day for North American programs. A cumulative production milestone of that scale is a candidate for the demonstrated-milestone tier and is ruled on in the October issue.
Bethel (WBTL) — Pending data. Bethel filed its 2026 interim report in the August window, but the English-language summary published September 9 is image-only and no brake-segment sales figure has been extracted. If a verified segment figure surfaces, any financial tier scores in Issue #5; otherwise this item drops after two issues. Separately, a September 4 announcement claiming EMB programs with four automakers is order intake — no tier — unless a start of production is confirmed.
HL Mando — Pending data. Second-quarter consolidated revenue rose 3.9% to 2.5 trillion won, reported July 30. HL Mando reports brakes alongside steering and suspension, so under the financial reporting key a brake-product figure is required before a tier applies. Awaiting that disclosure in English; drops after two issues if unresolved.
Sangsin Brake — Pending data. Sangsin filed half-year results on August 13 with quarterly revenue of roughly 150 billion won, but the year-over-year comparison is available only in the Korean filing. As a substantially pure friction supplier, its consolidated figure qualifies once verified; drops after two issues if unresolved.
Akebono — Scope rule. Named Supplier of the Year by Worldpac at its STX 2026 expo on August 26 — the highest of nine supplier honors at the biennial event. Worldpac is an aftermarket distributor, so the award falls outside this OE edition’s scope and does not qualify for the quality-award tier; the same scope ruling applied to ZF’s aftermarket brake fluid in Issue #3.
TMD Friction — Scope rule. The planned year-end closure of TMD’s Coswig, Germany plant — about 100 of 120 jobs, with production moving to China — was announced in February, before the season opened, and the site makes linings for commercial vehicles, rail and industrial applications. Pre-season and outside light-vehicle scope; non-qualifying, but tracked because a closure completion inside a window is the kind of event the retrenchment tier exists for.
The month in brakes
August is when the receipts arrive in bulk, and the Rankings scored four financial disclosures out of five entries. Several rulings are worth stating. Frasle Mobility’s second quarter, the disclosure Issue #2 flagged as the test of whether its −2 was a one-off, came in at +1.8% on R$1.38 billion — below the +3% line, so no tier either way, and the item leaves the Watch List resolved. Frasle also named a new managing director for its UK operations effective August 1; a country-level subsidiary appointment does not meet the people tier, which is reserved for group-level VP or above.
Two pending-data items expire under the two-issue rule and are noted here rather than silently removed: Akebono’s Guangzhou stake sale, for which no English confirmation of closing has surfaced, and BWI Group’s North American by-wire start of production.
Hyundai Mobis, ZF, Bosch, Aisin and HL Mando all reported in or near the window without a brake-segment breakout, so no financial tier applies to any of them — the financial reporting key published with this issue formalizes which figure counts for each supplier, so those rulings stop being made case by case. ITT’s raised group guidance is not scored for the same reason: the tier applies to brake-relevant guidance, not a three-segment conglomerate outlook. Aumovio’s guidance cut has no tier at all — the schedule rewards a raise and is silent on a reduction, an asymmetry noted for the season review. Chinese interim reports filed in the window — Bethel, Gold Phoenix, Wanxiang — are pending translation and sit under the disclosure limitation the methodology acknowledges.
And for the second month running, no brake recall named a universe supplier; the 1.16-million-vehicle GM eBoost investigation names none either. Five suppliers scored, Nisshinbo ended its sweep, and the untouched list stands at twelve.
Storylines we’re tracking
The by-wire race. August was a quiet month on the production front and a loud one on the order book. Bethel claims EMB programs with four automakers; Aumovio unveiled a distributed brake-by-wire system in September and booked a first Chinese series order for end-2027; BWI’s North American by-wire launch is still unconfirmed and drops off the Watch List; and Hyundai Mobis says its next-generation integrated brake reaches mass production this year. None of it scores until a start of production is verified — which is exactly why the board still shows Brembo and Bethel as the only by-wire launches of the season.
Software is the new recall surface. No brake recall in August named a universe supplier — the second straight window without a scored recall. The month’s biggest brake-safety action was not a recall at all: NHTSA escalated its GM eBoost investigation to an Engineering Analysis covering 1.16 million vehicles, 745 incidents and 22 crashes or fires. The ODI filing names no supplier and describes a mechanical failure — a fractured spindle — which makes it the first major action this season that is hardware, not software. Investigations have no tier; if it becomes a recall naming a supplier, it scores. NHTSA also extended the FMVSS 135 comment period to August 26 and opened a defect petition on 82,040 Ford Maverick Hybrids.
Euro 7 countdown. Roughly ten weeks to the November 29 deadline for new type approvals. Automechanika Frankfurt came and went in September with the expected lineup — Brembo’s Greenance Plus kit claiming up to 90% lower brake dust, ZF’s TRW DTEC pads and discs claiming up to 80% lower PM10 — but those are aftermarket products, outside this edition’s scope. What we are still waiting for is an OE supplier publicly demonstrating a compliant pad-and-disc couple on a named program. Nobody has claimed it yet.
Season standings after four issues
| # | Supplier | Points | Months scored |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brembo | +22 | 4 of 4 |
| 2 | BWI Group | +11 | 2 of 4 |
| 3 | Bethel (WBTL) | +8 | 1 of 4 |
| 3 | ITT Motion Technologies | +8 | 2 of 4 |
| 5 | HL Mando | +4 | 1 of 4 |
| 6 | Nisshinbo | +3 | 1 of 4 |
| 7 | ZF | 0 | 2 of 4 |
| 8 | Frasle Mobility | −2 | 1 of 4 |
| 9 | Akebono | −7 | 2 of 4 |
| 10 | Hyundai Mobis | −8 | 1 of 4 |
| 11 | Aumovio | −9 | 3 of 4 |
Swept all four months, no qualifying events yet (12): ADVICS, Aisin, APG, Astemo, Bosch, Brakes India, KB Autosys, Sangsin Brake, Shandong Gold Phoenix (BRGP), Tenneco, TMD Friction, Wanxiang Qianchao.
Issue #5 publishes October 15, covering September 1–30. Think we missed qualifying news? Verified submissions score in the following issue.
Subscribe to The BRAKE Report. Get free sample chapters.
