Fully Automatic Transmissions for Airport Vehicles

Over 15,000 Allison transmissions sold; hybrid sales again exceed 1,000 in one year; Allison’s global presence in new and developing markets grows as efficiency-driven operators choose Allison for their transit systems

Allison Transmission, once again announces record sales into the global city bus and coach market, during 2010. With more than 15,000 units sold into this sector worldwide, Allison further strengthens its position as a premier provider of automatic transmissions and hybrid systems. This success came as a result of increased customer demand for fuel efficient and reliable Allison transmission technology.
 
“Bus fleets are choosing Allison and manufacturers have increased availability of the Allison automatic option,” says Lawrence Love, Executive Director of International Marketing. “Allison supplies bus manufacturers in Europe, Russia, Asia, America, India and Australia. Our brand promise of unrivalled quality, reliability, durability, vocational value and customer service has been important to our success. Allison’s commitment to deliver these values locally ensures an appropriate level of service wherever buses operate in the world.”
 
Highlights for 2010 include many new releases with bus and coach manufacturers worldwide. Key OEMs in Japan, India, Turkey, China, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic and USA added Allison transmissions to increase the attractiveness of their buses for both domestic and export markets.
 
Allison’s bus and coach global market overview
 
In China, Allison and its customers had a busy 2010 supporting major public transportation programs for the Shanghai 2010 Expo and Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games, where a combined total of almost 700 Allison-equipped buses were in operation.
Sales of city buses expanded into nine additional cities including Erdos, Xi'an, Haikou, and Qujing. More than one thousand buses manufactured by Chinese OEMs and equipped with Allison transmissions were exported to 15 countries, with a record number of Chinese-manufactured buses with Allison exported to Australia.
 
In India, where the major OEMs are Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland, Allison was the exclusive automatic in all buses used for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. In 2010, demand for automatic transmissions in low and semi-low floor buses continued to spread across India. Over 2,000 Allison transmissions were sold in Indian buses across 15 cities, including new locations of Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.
 
In Japan, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) specified Allison’s T310 fully automatic transmission exclusively for its new Aero Star large transit bus for the Japanese market. This announcement marked the first time a Japanese transit bus exclusively adopted a fully automatic transmission. The new Aero Star automatic-equipped bus is compliant with Japan’s Post New Long Term Emission Regulations, which are the world’s most stringent requirements, as well as Japan’s 2015 fuel efficiency standard for heavy-duty vehicles. Fuel economy is improved, while Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) is reduced. These benefits are achieved by combining a 7.5 litre, 6M60 engine with MFTBC’s BlueTec(R) technology and an Allison fully automatic transmission.
 
In Korea, Allison fully automatic transmissions have been adopted by an increasing number of fleets in both low floor and regular city buses produced by Hyundai and Daewoo Bus. In addition to serving the domestic Korean market, both Hyundai and Daewoo Bus regularly export Allison equipped buses to Taiwan, Australia and other countries.
 
In Europe, several new OEM releases and further orders were executed for Allison’s H50Ep Hybrid system from operators graduating from initial trial purchases and demos. The Allison H50Ep has demonstrated outstanding reliability along with fuel savings of up to 22 percent in European applications.
 
Following an evaluation of automatic transmission options by Czech manufacturer, SOR, last summer – where Allison came out on top, providing fuel economy of 38.4 litres/100 km in certified SORT2 testing – the company adopted the T280R transmission in its BN12 bus model. Other new SOR releases for the T280R are with the 8.5m bus, where units have been delivered to the city of Prague and Poland, and for the Allison H50Ep Hybrid system in their NB18 Hybrid model. Solaris of Poland is now offering the Allison T325R transmission in its InterUrbino bus, with the first bus sold to a customer in Denmark.
 
Russian OEM LiAZ has released the Allison T325R with the 6213 CNG articulated low floor bus, and the first 10 buses have been delivered to Moscow.
 
Turkish manufacturer Temsa Global released the Allison B500R transmission in the Cummins 345 EPA 10-powered TS35 coach for the USA; the first 10 coaches were delivered in 2010. Allison is also now a standard release on the new Temsa Global MD9 (midi-coach). Isuzu Turkey confirmed an Allison release in their 9 meter Citimark bus, while the Burulas fleet in the north western Turkish city of Bursa has taken delivery of 18 new Allison T280R-equipped Otokar Doruk 215LE buses.
 
In the Middle East, Allison expanded its customer base in Tunisia. U.S. OEM, International-Navistar, supplied chassis for city buses in Tunisia via the local bus
bodybuilder, Alphabus, Navistar’s importer in Tunisia. All are equipped with an Allison transmission and are in operation across Tunisia.
 
In North America, Orion bus, a brand of Daimler Buses North America, selected the Allison Hybrid propulsion system for release into their new Orion VII transit buses, while U.S. OEM, New Flyer, fulfilled large orders for Allison hybrid equipped buses from the cities of Seattle, Washington and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with deliveries of 148 and 119 buses respectively during 2010. Allison is now offered by the top five major hybrid bus manufacturers in the USA, and remains the largest supplier of automatic transmissions and hybrid systems into the North American bus and coach markets.
 
In South America, Allison sales into buses more than doubled in 2010 as market conditions improved over 2009. Mercedes-Benz, as well as regional OEMs such as Agrale of Brazil and TATsa and Materfer of Argentina, supplied buses equipped with Allison fully automatic transmissions.
 
“Allison continues to expand its position in the global bus market and is pleased to see the confidence both OEMs and end customers placed in us during 2010. In addition, there are now more than 4,000 buses with the Allison H40Ep and H50Ep Two Mode Parallel Hybrid Systems in operation across 178 cities and nine countries worldwide,” says Love. “We estimate that our hybrid system has contributed to an overall fuel saving of over 65,000,000 liters of fuel to date and a corresponding reduction of over 170,000 metric tons of CO2. The benefits of operating an Allison automatic transmission or hybrid system extend way beyond the initial purchase.”
 
About Allison Transmission, Inc.
Allison Transmission, Inc. (Allison) is the premier global provider of commercial duty automatic transmissions and hybrid propulsion systems. Allison products are specified by over 250 of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers and are used in many market sectors including bus, refuse, fire, construction, distribution, military and specialty applications. Founded in 1915, the Allison business is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A. and employs 2,700 people. Regional headquarters with dedicated support staff are located in China, The Netherlands, Brazil, India and Japan. With a global presence in 80 countries, Allison has over 1,550 distributor and dealer locations. More information about Allison is available atwww.allisontransmission.com.
 
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plans," "project," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," “intend,” “forecast,” “could,” "potential," "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar terms or phrases. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks. Factors which may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made include, but are not limited to: our participation in markets that are competitive; general economic and industry conditions; our ability to prepare for, respond to and successfully achieve our objectives relating to technological and market developments and changing customer needs, the discovery of defects in our products, resulting in delays in new model launches, recall campaigns and/or increased warranty costs and reduction in future sales or damage to our brand and reputation; the concentration of our net sales in our top five customers and the loss of any one of these; and labor strikes, work stoppages or similar labor disputes, which could significantly disrupt our operations or those of our principal customers. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. All information is as of the date of this press release, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in expectations.
 
Press enquiries
Claire Dumbreck, Propel Technology, Bloxham Mill, Barford Road, Bloxham, Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK, OX15 4FF. +44 (0)1295 724130 / +44 (0) 7768 773857. claire@propel-technology.com
 
Miranda Jansen, Allison Transmission Europe B.V. Marketing Communications, Baanhoek 188, 3361GN Sliedrecht – The Netherlands , Tel: +31 78-6422 174. miranda.jansen@allisontransmission.com