In the prewar 1940s, BorgWarner created its Spring Division (to supply automatic transmission parts), began working on transfer cases, and soon directed its attention to World War II production needs.

In 1950, it developed its first lock-up torque converter, a three-speed automatic transmission (the 'Ford-O-Matic'), along with Holley brand Borg & Beck Carburetors.

[6] As the 1950s continued, BorgWarner expanded its operations, establishing Borg & Beck do Brasil South America and setting up new facilities in Simcoe, Ontario, and Letchworth (England).

Additionally, the company opened sales offices in Frankfurt, São Paulo, Seoul, and Tokyo and signed a licensing agreement with Nanjing Motor Works of Beijing.

Around 1990, BorgWarner's transfer case technology was introduced for heavy duty and all-wheel drive models from General Motors.

Meanwhile, the T-56 six-speed manual transmission became standard in Chrysler's Viper sportscar and new Ford Mustangs, and international operations were expanded in Japan and China.

In December 1996, BorgWarner sold its North American manual transmission business to Mexico-based Transmisiones y Equipos Mecanicos S.A. de C.V.

The third unit was Schwitzer, Inc., a maker of heavy-duty steel fuel tanks, fan drives, and turbochargers for diesel engines, which was later on incorporated in 3K-Warner.

Further, between 2006 and 2014, the organization invested in new production facilities, including in South Korea, France, Germany, China, Hungary, Poland, India, Brazil, Portugal, Mexico and Thailand.

[18] This was followed by a cooperation with Plug and Play as well as Franklin Venture Partners in 2018, representing the second and third Silicon Valley initiative for BorgWarner in the field of mobility and propulsion technologies.

[20][21] With the acquisition of Delphi Technologies in 2020, BorgWarner expanded its operations in the field of power electronics, software and calibration capabilities, as well as other products.

This included German-based battery manufacturer Akasol in the same year[23] and in 2022, Santroll Automotive Components and Rhombus Energy Solutions.

In December 2022, BorgWarner had acquired the Swiss-based company Drivetek AG, a manufacturer of engineering and products for inverters, electric components, and power electronics.

The newly created standalone company PHINIA, which took over the fuel parts and aftermarket segments, publicly trades on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company operates manufacturing facilities in Europe, the Americas and Asia and is an original equipment supplier to most major automotive OEM in the world.

In the NTT IndyCar Series, BorgWarner's EFR (Engineered for Racing) turbocharger has been fitted in all participating vehicles in each season since 2012.