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Meritor Announces New HVS Assembly Plant in Mexico

14 May 1999

Meritor Announces New HVS Assembly Plant in Mexico; Jose Pelaez Appointed Site Manager

    TROY, Mich., May 13 -- Meritor Automotive Inc.
today announced plans to open its Heavy Vehicle Systems (HVS) Customer Value
Center in Queretaro, Mexico.  The opening of this modern assembly plant
reinforces the company's commitment to serving its Mexican-based heavy vehicle
customers.  The plant will begin operations in June 1999.
    Prakash Mulchandani, president of Meritor's HVS business, said:
"Tremendous growth opportunities exist for Meritor in Mexico.  Late last year,
to support our customers, we announced the opening of our Mexico sales office
and Customer Service Center.  Now we have completed the third leg with our new
assembly plant."
    The 120,000 square-foot facility will initially assemble drive axles and
drivelines for linehaul vehicles.  The company will expand assembly operations
during the next two years to include front steer axles, clutches,
transmissions and wheel ends.  The facility will operate in conjunction with
other Meritor HVS facilities worldwide, allowing Meritor to respond quickly to
customer requests for ratio modifications, line sequence adjustments or other
last-minute changes.  In addition, the operation gives Meritor the ability to
uniquely tailor components to specific customer requirements.
    Initial employment at the facility will be approximately 20 persons.
Meritor plans to expand to over 100 employees within the next two years.
    Meritor has announced the appointment of Jose Pelaez to the position of
site manager of the new Customer Value Center in Queretaro.  Pelaez will be
responsible for overall management of Meritor's HVS Axle business in Mexico,
including customer satisfaction, production planning and manufacturing.
    Pelaez has more than 15 years of manufacturing, engineering and sales
experience, most recently serving as the key Volkswagen account manager for
Meritor's Light Vehicle Systems (LVS) business.  Prior to that, he served in
engineering functions at Meritor's transmission manufacturing facility in
Laurinburg, N.C.
    Before joining Meritor, Pelaez served as design engineering team leader at
TREMEC and Nissan in Mexico.
    He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the
Universidad Metropolitana in Mexico City and a master's degree in business
administration from Elon College in Greensboro, N.C.
    In addition to the new HVS assembly plant, the company has several other
manufacturing facilities in Mexico including Meritor Light Vehicle Systems
S.A. de C.V. in San Luis Potosi -- the largest steel wheel producer in Mexico;
Meritor Mexicana S.A. de C.V. in Queretaro -- producing three million window
regulators and 144,000 sunroofs a year; and Meritor Mexicana S.A. de C.V. in
Puebla -- manufacturing more than 400,000 assembly door modules a year.
    Effective Oct. 1, 1997, Rockwell Automotive became Meritor Automotive Inc.
as a result of its spin-off from Rockwell International Corp.  Meritor is a
stand-alone, publicly-held company trading on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol MRA.
    Meritor, with 1998 sales of $3.8 billion, is a global supplier of a broad
range of components and systems for commercial, specialty and light vehicle
OEMs and the aftermarket.  Meritor consists of two businesses:  Heavy Vehicle
Systems, a leading supplier of drivetrain systems and components for medium-
and heavy-duty trucks, trailers and off-highway equipment and specialty
vehicles, including military, bus and coach, and fire and rescue; and Light
Vehicle Systems, a major supplier of roof, door, access control, suspension
and seat adjusting systems and wheels for passenger cars, light trucks and
sport utility vehicles.