TROY, Mich. — ArvinMeritor Inc. has officially changed its name to Meritor Inc. As a result, Meritor’s ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange is MTOR (NYSE: MTOR), as of the start of trading yesterday. 
With the divestitures of its light vehicle businesses now completed, the company says it is focused on commercial vehicle and industrial markets in every major region of the world.
"Changing the company’s name back to Meritor gives us the opportunity to leverage the strength of the brand and build on it as we go forward," said Chip McClure, chairman, CEO and president.
The company initially assumed the name Meritor following the spin-off from Rockwell International Corp. in 1997. It remained Meritor until the merger with Arvin Industries in 2000. Since that time, the company has marketed and sold products under the Meritor brand.
In addition to the name change, Meritor also announced yesterday it will close its European trailer axle business on July 31. The company currently estimates that charges in the range of $17 million to $23 million will be incurred over the next year in connection with these actions. Of these charges, an estimated $12 million to $18 million are expected to result in cash expenditures.
"This decision is driven by the competitive nature of the European trailer axle market, which requires significant scale to address increasing cost challenges," said Joe Mejaly, president, Aftermarket and Trailers, Meritor. "In addition, following the decline in recent years, the market for commercial vehicle trailers is recovering more slowly than other sectors. After an extensive review process, we have concluded that we will be unable to achieve acceptable financial returns on a sustainable basis and that future investment would be better deployed to other businesses," said Mejaly.
"We recognize the impact of this decision on our workforce," said Mejaly. "Our employees are talented and highly skilled individuals who have worked hard to support our customers. We will do our utmost to assist them during this transition."
In total, 171 employees are affected by this action. In addition to the company’s main trailer axle manufacturing operation in Cwmbran, U.K., Meritor also has trailer employees located in France, Italy and Spain.
"We are appreciative of the long-term relationships we have maintained with our customers in the European trailer business and are taking steps to mitigate the challenges this action may present," said Mejaly.
The company said it remains committed to customer service through its global aftermarket business. Service parts will continue to be available and warranties will be honored.
The company’s facility in Cwmbran also is home to Meritor’s center of expertise for the design, development and manufacture of braking systems and components for the commercial vehicle truck market. In September 2010, the company announced its intent to invest $42 million to advance its foundation brake leadership position in Europe. The brake business in Cwmbran is entirely unaffected by the closure of the European trailer axle business, Meritor says.
Meritor’s trailer axle manufacturing operations in North and South America, including the company’s Suspensys joint venture in South America with the Randon S/A group, are also unaffected by this action.
