Commercial Vehicle Systems

Haldex brake systems operations trace their roots to 1913, when Axel Diurson patented an invention involving an automatic brake regulator system for railway vehicles. In 1916, he founded the company SAB in Malmö, Sweden, to develop and exploit his invention and a large number of other pneumatic railway brake concepts.

In parallel, Swedish aviation pioneer Enoch Thulin established an aircraft production plant in Landskrona in 1914. After World War I, the age of aviation was followed by other forms of sophisticated new technology, such as passenger cars and, later, SAB’s railway brake systems. After many years of close cooperation, the two companies merged in 1958.

Based on this know-how, series production of automatic brake adjusters for heavy trucks and busses was started in 1968, which gradually led to a completely dominant position in the world market. In the mid-1980s, the company was consolidated with some other Swedish players in the automotive industry: Haldex, Hesselman and Garphyttan, which were eventually incorporated under the collective name Haldex AB.

The brake systems operations expanded sharply in 1998 when Haldex acquired Midland Grau, a leading supplier of brake products for the North American commercial vehicle industry, but with strong roots in the German and UK automotive industry. The acquisition of Anchorlok Spring Brakes and Neway Valves in 2002 created the operations that are now conducted under the name Commercial Vehicle Systems within the Haldex Group. With sales and production companies in Europe, North and South America and Asia, the division is a leading global supplier of brake systems for heavy trucks, trailers and buses. The product offering comprises all main components and subsystems that are included in a complete pneumatic brake system.