Meritor Automotive reported record results for its 1999 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.

Fiscal 1999 sales were $4.5 billion, a 16% increase over last year’s sales. Net income for the year was $194 million, an increase of 32% over 1998’s figures.
Heavy Vehicle Systems reported a record $2.9 billion in sales, a 22% increase over 1998. Excluding acquisitions, heavy vehicle system sales increased $119 million, or 5%. The record production volumes in the North American heavy truck market drove North American sales of truck axles, brakes and transmissions to $1.3 billion, a 22% increase over last year. The North American heavy truck market accounted for only 28% of Meritor’s total sales. North American sales of other HVS products were down from last year, primarily as a result of lower government program sales. European and South American sales were also down in the Heavy Vehicle Systems division.
Light Vehicle Systems grew 7% over last year, to a record $1.6 billion in sales for 1999.
Meritor Chairman and CEO Larry Yost says the results for Meritor’s second year as a public company are in line with its financial goals. “We expect strength in our core markets in fiscal 2000,” he says, “although we believe volumes in the North American heavy truck and light vehicle markets and the European car market will likely be lower than the fiscal 1999 levels.”