Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), one of Asia’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers, announced that it will be supplying axle components for Freightliner in North America.
MFTBC reports that increased business in North America led Daimler Trucks, the parent company of Freightliner, to contract with MFTBC, whose Kawasaki plant will begin supplying Freightliner with gear sets of axle rings and pinions starting on Dec. 26.
Those components are currently produced at the Kassel Plant in Germany, the SĂŁo Bernardo do Campo Plant in Brazil and Detroit Diesel in North America, also a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks.
“Gear sets production requires high-level machining and grinding techniques,”says Yoshiro Motoyama, MFTBC senior vice president and head of operations of trucks and buses. “This is a clear evidence that the Kawasaki plant’s high level of craftsmanship is highly evaluated within Daimler Trucks.”
The move is also part of the Daimler Trucks Asia parts export strategy, MFTBC reports, under which the organization has already exported more than 1 million parts from its plant in Chennai, India to other Daimler entities.
The Kawasaki Plant will produce 6,000 gear sets annually.