ArvinMeritor wins transmission antitrust suit

TROY, Mich. — ZF Meritor and Meritor Transmission Corp. have won a District Court ruling in an antitrust lawsuit against competitor Eaton Corp.

A jury concluded that Eaton engaged in exclusionary and anticompetitive conduct in the sale and marketing for heavy-duty truck transmissions, according to Bloomberg News.

Meritor is claiming more than $800 million in damages. The case will continue on to the damages phase through a separate trial.

The case has dragged on for almost four years since ZF Meritor and Meritor Transmission Corp. filed an antitrust lawsuit, accusing Eaton of offering truck OEMs "lucrative rebates and share penetration incentives" and threatening "retaliation" if they purchased ZF Meritor transmissions.

ZF Meritor is a joint venture of ArvinMeritor and ZF Friedrichshafen AG formed in 1999. Although ZF Meritor still exists as a legal entity, ArvinMeritor said it was been forced to stop selling transmissions because of Eaton’s actions.

Chip McClure, ArvinMeritor’s chairman, CEO and president said in a press release that his competitor’s tactics forced Arvin to exit the North American line haul transmission business, which subsequently led to the demise of Arvin’s joint venture with ZF Industries.

In response, Eaton said it was "disappointed with the decision" and is considering its options for an appeal.

The company also stressed that the court has made no ruling on the allowable damages at this point.

A year ago, ZF and Meritor also won a long-simmering battle over patents, brought on by Eaton.