1. Home
2. Supplier Database
3. Major Suppliers
4. Meritor, Inc.
5. Meritor, Inc. Business Report FY ended Sep. 2020

Meritor, Inc. Business Report FY ended Sep. 2020

Factors
1) Net Sales
-The Company’s sales for the fiscal year ended September 27, 2020 was USD 3,044 million, a decrease of 30.6% from the previous fiscal year. The decrease in sales was caused by lower market volumes from decreased customer demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

2) Commercial Truck segment sales
-The Company's Commercial Truck segment's sales decreased by 36.6% to USD 2,190 million in the fiscal year ended September 27, 2020.  Lower market volumes caused by decreased customer demand and government mandates from the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the decrease in sales. Most of the Company’s production facilities were idled in April 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Recent Developments
-Automotive Axle, a joint venture of Kalyani Group and the Company, announced that it has decided to continue to suspend operations at all of its offices and manufacturing locations in India through April 20 to ensure employee safety and to restrict the spread of the coronavirus. (From a press release dated April 14, 2020)

-The Company announced that the distribution agreement between Meritor and a subsidiary of WABCO Holdings, Inc. has been terminated, effective March 13, 2020. The Company was paid USD 265 million in connection with the termination of the agreement. (From a press release on March 16, 2020)

Outlook
-In the Company’s M2022 Plan, it has set financial targets of achieving more than USD 300 million in new business and a 12.5% adjusted EBITDA margin by the end of fiscal year 2022.

R&D Facilities
-The Company has research and development facilities in the following locations:

• Troy, Michigan, U.S.
• Cameri, Italy
• Bangalore, India
• Mysore, India

Product Development
Auto-DCDL differential locking and unlocking system
-Meritor Brazil announced that it is working on the development of the Auto-DCDL system, an electronic system that can automatically lock and unlock the differential for heavy commercial vehicles. Traditionally, differential locking on trucks and buses is manually controlled by the driver. This can result in situations where the shaft is damaged if the system is left running unnecessarily. The Auto-DCDL system recognizes when the differential needs to be locked or unlocked, and does so automatically. The system can be installed on any axis on a heavy vehicle. The Auto-DCDL system will continue testing until October, and is expected to be launched in 2021. (Multiple news articles on August 14, 2020)

ProTec series 3000 front and rear all-wheel drive beam axles
-The Company launched the ProTec series 3000 front and rear all-wheel drive beam axles, its first purpose-built solutions for Class 5 vehicle applications, such as tactical, fire, rescue and utility vehicles. The ProTec Series 3000 front-drive steer axle features a gross axle weight rating of up to 12,000 pounds - a 4,500-pound increase over other OEM-provided equipment - and is pre-drilled and plumbed to accommodate a central tire inflation system. Both front and rear axles are equipped with the Company’s bevel gear hub wheel-ends and feature standard driver-controlled differential lock carriers to enhance mobility. (From a press release on October 14, 2019)

Investments outside U.S.
<Brazil>
-The Company signed an agreement for the purchase of 160,000 square meters of land in Roseira, Brazil where it plans to build its new factory. The new plant will be responsible for producing components for the new family of electric axles that will be supplied to the e-Consortium production system at the Volkswagen Caminhoes e Onibus (VWCO) plant in Resende, which will produce electric trucks. The Company first announced that it would invest BRL 200 million in the plant in January 2020. In the announcement, the Company had said that construction would begin in March 2020 with inauguration scheduled for April 2021. However, the Covid-19 pandemic altered these plans. The Company has not yet finalized a new schedule. Originally, the new plant’s initial production capacity was expected to be 2,000 axles a month, with the potential to expand to 8,000 per month. (Multiple sources on July 14, 2020)