This paper thoroughly investigates the impact of the winding layer number and the choice of magnet type on the performance characteristics of surface permanent magnet (SPM) machines with fractional slot concentrated windings designed for wide speed ranges of constant-power operation. This is accomplished by carefully examining the performance characteristics of three different SPM machines designed for the same set of performance requirements drawn from an automotive direct-drive starter/alternator application. These results show that double-layer stator windings yield lower torque ripple and magnet eddy current losses than do single-layer windings, but can contribute to a lower overload torque capability. Although the adoption of sintered magnets leads to the highest machine torque density, bonded magnets result in a significant reduction of the magnet losses because of their much higher value of resistivity.