TROY, Mich., Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- ArvinMeritor's Commercial Vehicle Systems business announced today that it has signed a long-term agreement with Liteflex, LLC to be the exclusive distributor of Liteflex(R) truck, trailer, and specialty vehicle composite mechanical springs. The agreement is effective immediately for North America and several other global markets, and extends the existing agreement that originated in 2003.
"We are pleased to extend this agreement with Liteflex to a long-term arrangement, not only for ourselves but more importantly for our customers," said Sergio Carvalho, vice president and general manager, ArvinMeritor Trailer Products. "In the relatively short amount of time this venture has been in place, we have been able to offer tremendous advantages to our customers through the benefits of composite technology."
"Continuing this agreement is a win-win scenario not only for our companies, but particularly for fleets and end-users that will gain from lightweight composite technology," said Daniel Chien, Vice President, Liteflex Sales and Engineering. "Liteflex's composite design and processing expertise and ArvinMeritor's sales and marketing presence and undercarriage engineering expertise have proven to be a great fit."
Going forward, the two companies will jointly develop integrated composite suspension modules and systems to address the need for lighter weight and better riding suspensions. A prime example of this is the SimilAir(R) composite trailer spring, which has been successfully field tested in over 100 trailers since August 2004, and will be launched early next year. The collaboration between ArvinMeritor and Liteflex will also provide the opportunity to pursue the use of composite technologies in components beyond springs.
"We've already seen the wide-ranging benefits composite mechanical springs can offer fleets and end-users," commented Carvalho. "Our combined expertise will allow us to build on what exists today to take composite technologies to the next level."
These heavy duty springs will be manufactured at Liteflex facilities in Dayton, Ohio. The company has produced over 15 million composite leaf springs for European and North American automotive and commercial vehicles over the past 24 years.
Liteflex, LLC is a privately held company since 2001 with world headquarters and four manufacturing sites located in the Dayton, Ohio area. The company has a 25-year heritage of GM, Inland and Delphi composite technology with a new entrepreneurial spirit of innovation. See http://www.liteflexllc.com
ArvinMeritor, Inc. is a premier global supplier of a broad range of integrated systems, modules and components to the motor vehicle industry. The company serves light vehicle, commercial truck, trailer and specialty original equipment manufacturers and certain aftermarkets. Headquartered in Troy, Mich., ArvinMeritor employs approximately 29,000 people at more than 120 manufacturing facilities in 25 countries. ArvinMeritor common stock is traded
on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ARM. For more information, visit the company's Web site at: http://www.arvinmeritor.com .
SOURCE ArvinMeritor, Inc.
CONTACT:
Media
D. Mike Pennington
248-435-1933
david.pennington@arvinmeritor.com
Investors
Brian Casey
248-435-0015
brian.casey@arvinmeritor.com
both of ArvinMeritor, Inc.
