Cummins Says Acquisition Will Further Company's Zero-Carbon Goals

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., March 1, 2022 /3BL Media/ - Cummins Inc. has reached another major milestone in its effort to address the world’s climate challenges, announcing an agreement to acquire Meritor, Inc., a global leader of drivetrain, mobility, braking and electric powertrain solutions.

“Meritor is an industry leader, and the addition of their complementary strengths will help us address one of the most critical technology challenges of our age: developing economically viable zero-carbon solutions for commercial and industrial applications,” said Cummins Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger. “Climate change is the existential crisis of our time and this acquisition accelerates our ability to address it. Our customers need economically viable decarbonized solutions.”

Meritor is an industry leader in axle and brake technology. The integration of Meritor’s people, technology and capabilities will position Cummins as one of the few companies able to provide integrated powertrain solutions across both combustion and electric power applications. Cummins believes eAxles will be a critical integration point within hybrid and electric drivetrains for commercial transportation. By accelerating Meritor’s investment in electrification and integrating development within Cummins’ New Power business, it expects to deliver market-leading solutions to global customers.

“This agreement with Cummins builds on Meritor’s track-record of outstanding performance and service to our customers,” said Chris Villavarayan, CEO and President of Meritor. “Our offerings will continue to play an important, strategic role as commercial vehicles transform to become electric and autonomous.”

Meritor has a legacy dating back more than 110 years. The company, which is headquartered in Troy, Michigan, has more than 9,600 employees serving commercial truck, trailer, off-highway, defense, specialty and aftermarket customers around the world.

Cummins believes it is critical to reduce carbon emissions now. The company is working to shrink the carbon footprint of its internal combustion engines, announcing recently, for example, that Cummins is developing the industry’s first unified fuel-agnostic engines. These engines will use blocks and core components sharing common architectures that can be optimized for different low-carbon fuels.

The company is also bringing to market battery and hydrogen fuel cell electric technologies as well as electrolyzers critical to producing no-carbon green hydrogen.

Cummins recently unveiled its Destination Zero strategy to go further, faster to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) and air quality impacts of its products and reach net-zero emissions by 2050 in a way that sustainably serves all of the company’s stakeholders.

Two of the company’s environmental sustainability goals for 2030 include reducing scope 3 absolute lifetime GHG emissions from newly sold products by 25% and partnering with customers to reduce scope 3 GHG emissions from products in the field by 55 million metric tons.

Meritor’s Board of Directors has unanimously approved the agreement with Cummins and recommends that Meritor shareholders vote in favor of the transaction at the Special Meeting of Shareholders to be called in connection with the transaction. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of applicable regulatory approvals in addition to Meritor shareholder approval.