By Boris Ladwig

The (Columbus) Republic

ArvinMeritor Inc. has renamed its exhaust business group to better reflect a broader product range and its focus on technology.

Air and Emissions Technologies Group “better defines the future goals and objectives of this growing business segment and demonstrates the company’s commitment to commercializing future emissions technologies,” according to a company statement.

More than 90 percent of the company’s Columbus employees work in the original-equipment exhaust business.

Jerry Rush, ArvinMeritor’s senior director of media and government relations, said the name change has no impact on operations and employment.

“It clearly reflects the positive direction that the business is heading in, in terms of developing new technologies to reduce and improve emissions, and also examine the fuel economy side of the equation,” Rush said.

The name change coincided with the company’s first original-equipment Air2Air contract.

Air2Air system incorporates ArvinMeritor’s expertise in air induction and exhaust to form a complete air-management system, including air inlet duct, filtration, manifold and tailpipe.

General Motors will use the system in its new Chevrolet SSR.

“Our Air2Air product offers our customers cutting-edge technology to optimize engine air flow, sound quality, (noise, vibration and harshness), emissions management and overall engine performance,” said Craig Stinson, president of AET Group.

“The contract with General Motors validates our expanded systems approach to the complete control of air flow.

“We are extremely pleased that the world’s leading automaker has joined us to unveil this new approach to air-management performance.”

AET Group’s Research and Innovation team is looking for opportunities to use the technology outside automotive markets.

The R&I team also signed an exclusive development agreement with Massachusetts Institute of Technology to commercialize new emissions treatments for the automotive industry.

Award from France

The French government presented ArvinMeritor with the Invest in France Automotive Award “for its strong presence in France and for its plans to build a new production facility in Sully-sur-Loire.”

The new 15,000-square-foot facility, to be built this year, will consolidate and streamline the company’s production of door systems and window regulators. It will employ about 450 and serve domestic and international customers.

ArvinMeritor employs about 2,500 in France.

“We view this award as a significant symbol of ArvinMeritor’s global presence as well as our commitment to excellence in the automotive industry,” said Vice President and Treasurer Frank Voltolina, who accepted the award at a reception in Detroit.

“Our new facility in Sully will enhance our global engineering and production capability to meet our customer’s growing needs for state-of-the-art door systems and technology.”