GM Allison Transmission and Aisin Seiki end joint venture

Aisin Seiki Company Ltd. and Allison Transmission, General Motors Corporation announced on July 27 that their Aisin General Motors Allison (AGMA) joint venture will come to an end on July 31. Over the course of the 10-year relationship, the joint venture realized significant success in penetration of light-medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses in the Japanese commercial vehicle market.

Both Aisin Seiki Company and Allison Transmission will continue sales and service support to their customer base following the expiration of the joint venture. Aisin will independently begin selling its A500 transmission, currently sold through AGMA, sometime during the third quarter of 2007. Similarly, Allison will sell its products, including the 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 series and Torqmatic models of fully automatic transmissions for on/off highway trucks and buses in Japan under the new company, Allison Transmission Japan Company Ltd.

Aisin Seiki and its domestic and foreign consolidated subsidiaries comprise 153 companies in 19 countries, with the total number of employees at approximately 66,300. Based on “Quality First,” Aisin Seiki is expanding its Automotive Parts and Systems Business and raising quality in combination with efforts to bolster the Life Related and Other Business toward the creation of new businesses.

Allison Transmission is the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of medium- and heavy-duty automatic transmissions for trucks, buses, off-road and military vehicles, and TVs. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company provides global products support through a worldwide distribution network with locations in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

General Motors, the world’s largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 76 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 280,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries.