Vehicle parts supplier ArvinMeritor Inc. said it has changed its name to Meritor Inc., and separately lowered its second-quarter earnings outlook and said it was closing its European trailer axle business in July.
“With the name Meritor, we have found the universal language to communicate our strengths: innovation, efficiency and reliability,” CEO Chip McClure said.
The company was known as Meritor for about three years following its spin-off from Rockwell International Corp. in 1997, until its merger with Arvin Industries in 2000.
Meritor’s New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol is now MTOR, from its previous ARM.
Separately, citing “dramatically rising steel prices” and higher North American commercial truck market volumes, Meritor said its adjusted second-quarter earnings from continuing operations will be $2 million to $10 million, down from a previously forecast $5 million to $15 million.
It boosted its revenue forecast to a range of $1.18 billion to $1.21 billion, up from its February forecast of $1.13 billion to $1.18 billion.
Meritor’s decision to close the Europe axle business was due to a slower-than-expected recovery in commercial trailers, and it said it would book charges of $17 million to $23 million in the next year.
In addition to its main trailer axle manufacturing operation in Cwmbran, U.K., Meritor also has trailer operations in France, Italy and Spain, the Associated Press reported.
Its brake business in Cwmbran is unaffected by the closure, as are its North and South American trailer axle manufacturing operations, AP said.
