Allison Transmission

The first Mack medium-duty trucks in nearly 20 years are finding favor with customers.

Heavy-duty transmission maker Allison reported lower sales and profits across its product line with its North America on-highway business the sole exception.

Mack likes the stability of the medium-duty truck market, where it can sell small trucks to current customers without the dizzying ups and downs of the Class 8 market.

Allison Transmission announced it is partnering with Freightliner Trucks to launch its new 3414 Regional Haul Series (RHS) transmission on Oct. 29 at the North American Commercial Vehicle (NACV) Show in Atlanta.

Allison Transmission Holdings Inc. is paying $103 million to acquire two suppliers of critical components to its automatic transmissions. The company said the acquisitions will no impact its fiscal year earnings.

North America On-Highway and Defense softened sequentially, and management thinks the company will make much less money in 2019.

Announcing what it said is the first fully automatic 9-speed transmission for the North American market, Allison Transmission noted that the transmission will help fleets reduce fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions.