Wabco, the leading global supplier of technologies and services that improve the safety, efficiency and connectivity of commercial vehicles, has bagged its largest ever contract in South Korea. Under a long-term agreement with Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea’s leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles, Wabco is to supply its breakthrough Maxx single-piston air disc brake technology for series production on Hyundai’s new medium-duty trucks starting in August 2019.

With over five million systems sold, Wabco is the global market leader for single-piston air disc brakes (ADB). The company says its pioneering Maxx represents the lightest and highest performing single-piston ADB range for commercial vehicles and offers a number of differentiating benefits for original equipment manufacturers.

The compact Maxx unit offers a potential vehicle weight reduction of 100kg with optimised wheel ends when compared to conventional drum brakes, which helps improve fuel efficiency and enables increased transport payloads. The Maxx ADB, which uses up to 25 percent fewer parts compared to other ADB brands, also provides enhanced safety and efficiency with shorter stopping distances and easier maintenance over conventional drum brakes.

With this, Hyundai Motors will now become the first manufacturer to adopt ADB technology on all axles as standard on medium-duty trucks in the South Korean market. Significantly reducing brake noise, Hyundai Motor's new range of medium-duty trucks will be equipped with Wabco’s Maxx19 ADB featuring a specially customised new brake pad solution.

“Further enhancing the safety, efficiency and market competitiveness of Hyundai Motor’s new medium-duty trucks, I am pleased that we are leading the way in the South Korean market by adopting Wabco’s high-performance air-disc brakes as a standard feature," said Young Duk Tak, Hyundai Motor Company executive vice-president. “This agreement further extends our longstanding relationship with Wabco. Wabco's innovative support and braking systems leadership delivers a distinct technology advantage, enabling us to further differentiate and strengthen our position in the market."

“Representing our largest ever contract in South Korea, this ground-breaking air disc brake agreement builds on the success of over two decades of working in close partnership with Hyundai Motor Company," said Sujie Yu, Wabco president, APAC and Business Leader, China. “Building on Wabco‘s strategy of technology leadership, globalisation and excellence in execution, we are successfully leveraging its localised engineering capability, market intimacy and cost-competitive supply chain across the region to deliver affordable technologies, customised solutions and differentiating value for local original equipment manufacturers."

“We are honored that Hyundai Motor Company continues to place its faith in Wabco with this further expansion to the range of advanced technologies they source from Wabco," added Hyung Keun Ji, Wabco Korea Business Leader. “As the first Korean commercial vehicle manufacturer to adopt single-piston air disc brake technology as standard on their new medium-duty range of trucks, we are delighted to support Hyundai Motors to bring solutions that further advance their vehicle safety and efficiency."

Also read: Wabco shows the way to improved safety in commercial vehicles in India