ELECTRIC vehicle component maker Sevcon has continued its drive back into the black in 2012 as it grows sales.

The Gateshead-based company has seen revenues for the first quarter of its financial year up a quarter to £5.4m on a year ago after it won deals with an increasingly wide range of vehicles.

And the business showed its fightback bear fruit with a profit of £281,000 for the three months to December 31 compared with barely breaking even a year ago as the demand grows from its industrial customers and the burgeoning private market for electric vehicles.

Much of the revival in business follows signs of economic recovery around the world with growing demand for the motor controllers and other parts it makes for vehicles ranging from forklift trucks to sports utility vehicles.

Chief executive Matt Boyle said: “Business with new customers in the on-road electric vehicle sector and continued demand for aerial work platform and forklift truck applications combined to accelerate Sevcon’s top-line growth and improved our profitability in the first quarter of fiscal 2012.”

The company, which has factories in China, Mexico and Poland, has seen particular growth in overseas markets with the industrial boom in the Far East.

“This was a strong sales quarter for us in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Contributing significantly to this growth were several new relationships with manufacturers of innovative zero-emissions vehicles for production in volume, including electric scooters, four-wheel-drive electric all-terrain vehicles, and electric city cars,” added Boyle.