LOUISVILLE, KY. The company once known as ArvinMeritor has officially changed its name to Meritor, signaling its “successful transformation to a company 100% focused on commercial vehicles and industrial markets,” according to Chip McClure, chairman, CEO & president. With a new stock symbol (NYSE: MTOR) and a resurrected “Meritor Bull” logo, the name change represents the end move in a six-year process that saw the company divest itself of light-vehicle operations to concentrate on the engineering, manufacturing and distribution of global truck and industrial components, he said during a press conference at the 2011 Mid-America Trucking Show.
Turning to product news, the company announced a lightweight aluminum carrier option for the Meritor 14X tandem axle, which was introduced as a completely new model at last year’s show. The aluminum carrier saves approximately 100 lbs. over the standard cast-iron carrier, according to Joe Plomin, vice president-truck. Production availability begins in 2012.
On the support side, Meritor announced the development of Sales Pad, an iPad application that will provide instant access to more than 600 Meritor brochures, service manuals, parts books, videos, images and performance calculators. Initially distributed to Meritor’s field support personnel, a public version will be available later this year, according to the company.
Looking to future developments, the component company also displayed an advanced rear axle concept that combined current technologies with technologies under development. Intended to decrease weight by 1,000 lbs. while improve fuel economy by 10%, it’s an intelligent axle control system already introduced in Europe. Made of a carbon fiber bowl, it weighs one-fifth of the steel version it replaces - an aluminum tag axle, Meritor Wabco air disc brakes, titanium brackets, and intelligent traction control - that provides the traction of a 6x4 in a 6x2 configuration.
