Deutz acquiring Dutch battery-electric drive supplier

Deutz announced it is acquiring Urban Mobility Systems B.V. (UMS), a Dutch specialist in the electrification of off-highway vehicles. The company signed an agreement to purchase 100% of the shares in UMS and its parent company UMS Holding B.V.

UMS specializes in the field of battery-electric drives for off-highway applications and has already electrified more than 200 machines, including excavators, wheel loaders and cranes. It generated revenue of around €10 million in 2024. New orders are expected to be in the high double-digit millions.

The acquisition is expected to step up Deutz’s strength in its expanding New Technology segment.

“By acquiring UMS, Deutz is accelerating the development of battery-electric drives for heavy-duty applications and will immediately facilitate the electrification of larger off-highway machines,” said Deutz CEO Dr. Sebastian C. Schulte. “We are thus taking a strategically important step under our Dual+ strategy and will play a key role in the consolidation of the market for internal combustion engines and for climate-friendly drives used to power large machines.”

Deutz New Technology CEO Bert van Hasselt underlined the significance for the alternative drive business, stating the acquisition will enable the company to take “a technological leap forward and saving both time and resources.” He added that Deutz’s industrialization expertise will enable the scaling up of the UMS technology.

UMS CEO and CTO Lars Kool agreed, noting: “DEUTZ’s 161 years of industrial experience and its modern production network at major sites in Germany make it the ideal partner for automating battery assembly and the production of e-kits and ramping them up for mass distribution.”

Industrialization of the UMS solutions will predominantly take place at Deutz’s German sites, allowing them to enhance their capabilities in the field of battery-electric drives. Deutz said the company will be able to target new customer groups in the transportation and logistics sector and greatly accelerate research and development in relation to alternative drives.

UMS electrification kits are designed to enable integration of alternative drives into the existing engine space without redesigning the machines. They can be installed in new machines on existing assembly lines or directly retrofitted. Replaceable batteries are used. When the batteries are combined with small Deutz internal combustion engines in a hybrid system, even the electrification of larger machines becomes possible, Deutz asserted.

UMS alternative drives, with their with low acoustic signature, also open up new defense applications, Deutz continued. The first feasibility studies have already been produced for equipping military vehicles, such as the Bushmaster troop carrier, with a hybrid solution in which the electric drive is to be deployed for tactical reasons.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to the usual conditions, particularly the necessary regulatory approvals, and is expected to take place in the upcoming months.