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Finland's Sisu Axles and Fabco Automotive Corp. have announced an agreement whereby Fabco becomes the official representative in North America for Sisu front and rear hub reduction axles, effective immediately.

According to Al Sunderland, president of Fabco Automotive, Emeryvilie, Calif., a business unit of Transportation Technologies, Inc. (TTI), the agreement allows the company to now offer a full range of axles and gearboxes for its targeted markets.

"For years, Fabco bas been a Tier 1 supplier of steerable drive axles, transfer cases and PTOs for both on- and off-highway heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers," Sunderland said. "The addition of the Sisu products allows us to meet the needs of a much wider range of customers including axles capacities from 10,000 to 105,000 1b."

Sisu Axles Inc. was formed in 2000 when Partek Inc. sold its heavy vehicle axle business to company management and a group of investors leading to the formation of the new company. Sisu expects a turnover of $23 million in 2001. The company is headquartered in Hameenlinna, Finland, and employs 105 people.

About 60 percent of Sisu Axle's products are exported, evenly divided amongst Europe, North America and the rest of the world's markets, said Matti V. Tuominen, president and CEO. He said the agreement with Fabco represented a strengthened commitment to improving Sisu's worldwide presence and increasing its business in North America is a major part of that strategy. "To do that, we needed a local presence and this relationship with Fabco is an ideal match," Tuominen said.

Sisu has been somewhat active in the North American markets since the late 1980s, primarily with direct sales to equipment manufacturers. The company had an agreement with Truck Tech Ltd., Bellevue, Wash., which in parallel, has concluded an agreement with Fabco to provide full-time support to Fabco's customer service activities.

Specifically, the agreement with Sisuallows Fabco to now offer a complete range of axles and gearboxes for use primarily in heavy vocational trucks typically used in logging and oil field applications, and opens up a variety of new customers in the specialty vehicle markets, Sunderland said.

Fabco's line includes steerable drive axles from 12,000 lb. to 23,000 lb. load capacity, all of which are exposed Cardan joint designs developed for use on-highway, as well as occasional off-highway and rough terrain applications.

# posted by Medical Information : 11:09 PM