Let’s not bury the lede: “Cummins and Meritor are better together. The combination of the two companies brings more value internally and externally,” noted Alan Rabadi, general manager, global aftermarket and business development, Cummins-Meritor, during the annual Cummins-Meritor media appreciation lunch at Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week. “Customers will win with this integration. We have better integration and technology developments on core products and better integration and technology development on future products.”
Cummins-Meritor expects the acquisition to enhance its position in the commercial vehicle powertrain segment, combine EV technology and products to accelerate the development of electric powertrains, and improve the financial strength of both companies.
Cummins-Meritor is a business unit structured within the Cummins component portfolio. Rabadi likened it to Cummins Turbo Technologies as a business unit. Meritor branding will continue as the product strategy for those traditional Meritor components that continue to fall under the Meritor team.
In the aftermarket, Joe Mejaly, vice president, North America aftermarket, noted that while the Cummins-Meritor acquisition news broke early last year, the deal was only finalized approximately 120 days ago. With the caveat that the market takes some time to decide how it views and interacts with brands, Cummins-Meritor plans to retain the Meritor name in the trucking industry.
“Our marketplace will still recognize Meritor as a brand, Euclid as a brand, and Meritor still has market-facing value,” he said. “When the acquisition was done, Cummins was in tune with the differences in how the aftermarket is served. The acquisition brings opportunity for how we serve the aftermarket going forward.”
Mejaly stressed remanufacturing opportunities as a big aftermarket focus moving forward. In terms of how fleets work with Cummins-Meritor, Mejaly said:
“When we talk about how we approach the customer, we have minimized that impact. In fact, we haven’t changed anything in that regard.”
Stay tuned for more from Cummins-Meritor, including an exclusive interview diving into the acquisition and equipment details.
