HANNOVER, Germany, Sept. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) today announced an incremental investment of $16 million in its European brake operations. This builds on a $42 million investment the company announced at the 2010 Hannover IAA Commercial Vehicle show to solidify its position as a global on-highway brake leader.
"We are continuing to strengthen our global brake business," said Joe Plomin, vice president, Global Brakes, Meritor. "Our Cwmbran, U.K., site is our global center of excellence for disc brakes. With the expected growth around the world for disc brake technology, we are increasing our investment to ensure we can meet the needs of our customers."
The complete investment plan focuses on the following initiatives:
- Advanced product technology combining reduced weight, higher output and broader application coverage
- More in-depth product test and validation capabilities
- Facility modernization creating a operating environment to ensure market-leading cost, quality and safety
- Larger customer support and manufacturing teams
The initial investment led to the expansion of the successful ELSA air disc brake and S-Cam product lines, and the development of future braking technologies. At this year's IAA Commercial Vehicle show, Meritor announced the latest developments to the ELSA family of air disc brakes that demonstrated features including reduced weight, improved life and increased performance with nominal torque ratings up to 30kNm. The extended family of brakes broadens Meritor's ability to cover every vocation with more optimized product offerings.
The company's earlier investment also included vehicle and lab performance testing, validation improvements, such as a new noise, vibration and harshness and thermal imaging dynamometer. The new dynamometer is capable of testing complete corner modules, including axles, suspensions and wheel-ends. Additionally, the company purchased a new advanced three-axis vibration rig to analyze effects of vibration more accurately.
In addition, Meritor recently began an extensive modernization of the Cwmbran, Wales, site to enhance its production efficiency while achieving a greener and more environmentally friendly facility. As part of the plant's update, investments have been made in world-class manufacturing systems to improve quality and achieve zero parts per million, as well as a state-of-the-art machining and assembly operation that reduces cost and enhances safety.
Customer and manufacturing support capability, as well as the size of the product engineering team, have been significantly increased to achieve a closer relationship with customers as Meritor drives to deliver timely, leading-edge technologies to the global marketplace.
About Meritor, Inc.
Meritor, Inc. is a leading global supplier of drivetrain, mobility, braking and aftermarket solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets. With more than a 100-year legacy of providing innovative products that offer superior performance, efficiency and reliability, the company serves commercial truck, trailer, off-highway, defense, specialty and aftermarket customers in more than 70 countries. Meritor is based in Troy, Mich., United States, and is made up of more than 10,000 diverse employees who apply their knowledge and skills in manufacturing facilities, engineering centers, joint ventures, distribution centers and global offices in 19 countries. Common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MTOR. For important information, visit the company's website at meritor.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains statements relating to our future results (including certain projections and business trends) that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "should," "are likely to be," "will" and similar expressions. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to our ability to manage possible adverse effects on our European operations, or financing arrangements related thereto, in the event one or more countries exit the European monetary union; our ability to successfully manage rapidly changing volumes in the commercial truck markets and work with our customers to adjust their demands in view of rapid changes in production levels; availability and sharply rising costs of raw materials, including steel, and our ability to manage or recover such costs; reduced production for certain military programs and the return of volumes of selected long-term military contracts to more normalized levels; our ability to secure new military programs to replace those that will wind down by design in future years; global economic and market cycles and conditions, including a slower than anticipated recovery from the recent global economic crisis; risks inherent in operating abroad (including foreign currency exchange rates, implications of foreign regulations relating to pensions and potential disruption of production and supply due to terrorist attacks or acts of aggression); rising costs of pension and other postretirement benefits; the ability to achieve the expected benefits of restructuring actions; the demand for commercial and specialty vehicles for which we supply products; whether our liquidity will be affected by declining vehicle productions in the future; original equipment manufacturer ("OEM") program delays; demand for and market acceptance of new and existing products; successful development of new products; reliance on major OEM customers and possible negative outcomes from contract negotiations with our major customers; labor relations of our company, our suppliers and customers, including potential disruptions in supply of parts to our facilities or demand for our products due to work stoppages; the financial condition of our suppliers and customers, including potential bankruptcies; possible adverse effects of any future suspension of normal trade credit terms by our suppliers; potential difficulties competing with companies that have avoided their existing contracts in bankruptcy and reorganization proceedings; potential impairment of long-lived assets, including goodwill; potential adjustment of the value of deferred tax assets; competitive product and pricing pressures; the amount of our debt; our ability to continue to comply with covenants in our financing agreements; our ability to access capital markets; credit ratings of our debt; the outcome of existing and any future legal proceedings, including any litigation with respect to environmental or asbestos-related matters; the outcome of actual and potential product liability, warranty and recall claims; and possible changes in accounting rules; as well as other substantial costs, risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 2, 2011 and from time to time in our other filings with the SEC. See also the following portions of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 2, 2011: Item 1. Business, "Customers; Sales and Marketing"; "Competition"; "Raw Materials and Supplies"; "Employees"; "Environmental Matters"; "International Operations"; and "Seasonality; Cyclicality"; Item 1A. Risk Factors; Item 3. Legal Proceedings; and Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the respective dates on which they were made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.
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SOURCE Meritor, Inc.
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