American Axle & Manufacturing (Detroit, Mich.) announced in September that it will produce a carrier assembly for a major U.S. commercial truck program. The carrier assembly will be used in a tandem, double-reduction rear axle for heavy-duty vocational, commercial and line-haul application vehicles beginning in 2009.

AAM is leveraging the commercial-vehicle expertise of its Albion Automotive subsidiary in the U.K. with the engineering talent available at its new Fort Wayne Engineering Center in Indiana for this program. The manufacturing process for this product will employ the company's environmentally friendly two-cut/dry-cut gear generation process to produce gear sets that meet the extreme levels of durability essential for heavy-duty applications.

"Quality, reliability, strength and durability are hallmarks of AAM's product portfolio," said company co-founder, chairman and CEO Richard E. Dauch. "We are extremely pleased to have been given the opportunity to produce a high-quality, high-performance carrier assembly for one of the world's leading commercial truck manufacturers. This new business is AAM's first major venture into commercial trucks in the United States and brings a new product manufactured by AAM to the U.S. market.”