“Meritor’s vision is to be the recognized leader in providing advanced drivetrain, mobility, braking and aftermarket solutions for the global commercial vehicle and industrial markets. India will play a key role in our achieving that vision”
– Mr. Chip McClure, Chairman and CEO, Meritor Inc.
At the 30th AAL anniversary function, Mr. Chip McClure thanked all the customers and suppliers on behalf of Automotive Axles and on behalf of Meritor for the long association and the mutually beneficial journey. “We have come this far only because of our customers and suppliers and also because of the strength of the partnership we have shared with the Kalyani Group over many years”, he said.
“We value this partnership, and the others that we have around the world, that have enabled Meritor to grow in important markets around the world. We look forward to many more years of association and success in the Indian market and the global market”, Mr. McClure added.
Talking on Meritor’s perspective of India and its long association in this region of the world through joint ventures, Mr. McClure said: “India is one of our most important markets outside of North America. The opportunities arising out the development of this country and the aspirations of its people are significant. We see excellent opportunities in India in all the segments that we present globally. The recognition of India as a key market is not new – it actually dates back to our Rockwell heritage. This recognition drove us to direct resources to this market knowing that some of the investments would not provide immediate results or returns”.
“We are actively working in several segments in India. On-highway is our largest segment and will continue to be so in the days ahead. We have worked over the years to provide platforms that address various price-performance points for truck and bus applications. I am proud to say that at AAL we manufacture the most diverse range of axle platform (from C100 which uses a 12” to 160 which uses 18”) in all of Meritor’s sites”, Mr. McClure added.
He observed: “AAL is an integral part of our global gear engineering network. The engineers from AAL work in close co-operation with our engineers in the US to develop bus application gear sets for India and China.Mysore is the gear manufacturing hub for Europe”.
Talking about the new products, Mr. McClure said: “We are now launching the two-speed axle which has been very successful in Mexico and Brazil. Apart from providing our customers with 6-8% fuel economy, the India version is fitted with a patented fail-safe shifter mechanism to eliminate the learning curve for drivers. We are also launching the performance heavy duty hub reduction single and tandem axle shortly. For the bus segment, we will launch the 177 axle for the high horse power engines, ideally suited for heavy retarder loads”.
On the brake business, he said: “We have rejuvenated our brakes strategy for India. This has involved the launch of a new facility in Pantnagar which will be followed by others. There will be more to come on new products in drum and air disc brakes. Incidentally, we were the first to launch completely indigenous air disc brakes in India”.
Meritor is aggressively expanding its off-highway business. “We are working to build our presence in the off-highway segment in India. We are in the process of developing drivetrain solutions for rough terrain cranes, all terrain cranes, terminal tractors, fork trucks and motor graders. Finally, in our military business, we have a host of new drivetrain and suspension products in the process of being launched in next 12 to 24 months”, added Mr. McClure.
