ArvinMeritor announced today, Aug. 4, that it will discontinue manufacturing Meritor manual transmissions, effective January 2007. The company says it will place greater emphasis on marketing FreedomLine automated manual transmissions by ZF of Friedrichshafen, Germany.
The company reportedly will honor all current manual transmission orders, and all orders received prior to September 2006, provided they are to be delivered no later than January 2007. The company also will continue to support its manual transmissions with parts and service.
Production of FreedomLine transmissions will remain in ArvinMeritor’s Laurinburg, N.C., facility, and the manual-transmission work force will be absorbed into production of other components.
“We are absolutely convinced that we have the most advanced and proven technology solution with the FreedomLine for our North American customers,” Tom Gosnell, president of the company’s Commercial Vehicle Systems business unit, said in a statement. “We pledge to expand the number of motor carriers and their drivers who are delighted with the performance and benefits of our FreedomLine.”
