Meritor first teased its new Mach brand back in September, but production on the brand actually began much earlier, says Doug Dole, general manager, Sales, North American Aftermarket at Meritor.
According to Dole, Meritor determined last year through both internal research and customer feedback that introducing a value line aftermarket product would strengthen Meritor’s position with second- and third-vehicle owners in the aftermarket. He says Mach now provides Meritor a “good” product line to support its “better and best” OE and genuine product offering.
“We believe Mach puts us in a position to compete with other suppliers in the aftermarket for those all-makes industry standard products,” Dole says.
The company’s first batch of Mach part numbers were released Tuesday with the introduction of more than 2,000 drivetrain and related part components. Dole says planned rollouts for other categories, such as brakes, wheel-end and suspension are scheduled for the next six months. Ultimately, the company plans to introduce Mach product numbers anywhere “we have a need and or our customers have informed us of a need,” Dole says.
Meritor Director of Product Marketing Ryan Obert adds the company also is supplementing its new product rollout with a comprehensive marketing strategy aimed to educate distributors and their end user customers on the breadth and depth of the new brand. Informational email blasts, specialty websites and sales resource pamphlets have all served to promote the brand thus far, and Obert says the Meritor sales and customer support team is staffed and trained to answer any questions that arise within the industry.
Mach education and literature also will be prominently featured at Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) next month, he says.
“I think customers are going to be excited about the bang for their buck they are going to get from Mach,” Obert says. “The quality products, coupled with Meritor’s service and support, we believe over time will allow the brand to earn our customer’s trust in the market.”
