Expanding the Company's Horizons into Alternative-Fueled Vehicles

LOUISVILLE, Ky., March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ArvinMeritor Inc. (NYSE: ARM) has entered into a new alternative-power vehicle development program -- with an electric drivetrain -- with Unicell Ltd., a medium-duty body builder with operations in Toronto, Ontario, and Buffalo, N.Y. The new electric drive vehicle, with a GVWR of 16,000 lbs., will be equipped with a fully-electric drivetrain and will be demonstrated to the public in 2006.

The initial vehicle application is for pickup and delivery vehicles. The particular fleet name is being withheld pending completion of the vehicle development.

"This is an exciting new vehicle application for our expanding role as a true systems integrator. We are leveraging our experience in electric drive axles and are gaining the know-how to design similar systems for other applications, such as school bus and low-floor bus and coach vehicles," stated Garrick Hu, vice president of Advanced Engineering for ArvinMeritor's Commercial Vehicle Systems business unit.

Hu commented that many commercial vocational applications exist where this type of zero emissions vehicle will become dominant over the next five to 15 years, primarily due to reduced emissions in urban environments. The rate of adoption will be largely dependent on the cost of battery energy storage relative to the cost of fossil fuel.

On the Unicell vehicles, the team of ArvinMeritor engineers acknowledges that the new electric drivetrain system will provide the fleet operator lower energy costs, zero emissions and considerable operations efficiency.

"It's very encouraging and inspiring to be working with ArvinMeritor on this project," said Roger Martin, chairman of Unicell. "We were delighted to discover just a year ago that ArvinMeritor's long-term vision in this area matched ours. We've covered much ground together since then. Our primary focus is to create a cost-effective tool for our customer -- a delivery vehicle that is more productive and safer, with lower maintenance costs and lower energy costs. The social benefits are important, too -- zero emission operation, zero crude oil consumption and a reduction of more than 80 percent in 'well-to-wheels' greenhouse gas emissions."

For over 15 years, ArvinMeritor has been designing and manufacturing electric drive axles, specifically for low-floor buses in Europe. This new drivetrain system relies on onboard energy storage and delivers the torque to the wheel ends via motors integral to the vehicle's rear axles.

Unicell is a progressive manufacturer and distributor of truck bodies and equipment, with a sales force that covers the Northeast region of the U.S. and all of Canada. Unicell has successfully brought to market several ground- breaking "best in class" truck bodies for Ford and General Motors trucks. For more information, see http://www.unicell.com .

ArvinMeritor, Inc. is a premier $8 billion global supplier of a broad range of integrated systems, modules and components to the motor vehicle industry. The company serves light vehicle, commercial truck, trailer and specialty original equipment manufacturers and related aftermarkets. Headquartered in Troy, Mich., ArvinMeritor employs approximately 31,000 people at more than 120 manufacturing facilities in 25 countries. ArvinMeritor common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ARM. For more information, visit the company's Web site at: http://www.arvinmeritor.com .

SOURCE ArvinMeritor, Inc.

CONTACT:
Media Inquiries:
D. Mike Pennington
248-435-1933
david.pennington@arvinmeritor.com

Investor Inquiries:
Alice McGuire
248-655-2159
alice.mcguire@arvinmeritor.com
both of ArvinMeritor, Inc.