INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Allison Transmission (NYSE: ALSN) today announced its support of new standards issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regarding fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for medium and heavy-duty vehicles.

"Given the complexity of the medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicle manufacturing sector, we embraced the opportunity to work with the EPA and NHTSA to review technical issues and conduct additional testing in developing the new standards," said Deborah Gordon, vice president of mobile source emissions regulatory activities for Allison Transmission.

The Phase 2 program is expected to lower carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 1.1 billion metric tons, save vehicle owners fuel costs of about $170 billion, and reduce oil consumption by up to 2 billion barrels over the lifetime of the vehicles sold under the program. Phase 2 will also use emerging technologies that are not yet in widespread use.

"With the ability to recognize fuel-saving features in our transmissions, we support use of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Model (GEM) as the program's primary certification tool," said Gordon. "Our latest technologies are already enabling our customers to reduce fuel consumption and emissions without sacrificing performance."

Allison's newest products include FuelSense® and xFE technologies, and the TC10® transmission. FuelSense is the next generation in fuel-savings technology, for any vocational vehicle, which utilizes a unique set of software and electronic controls to improve fuel economy up to 20 percent.

For Class 8 tractors, Allison offers the fully automatic TC10 transmission which improves fuel economy by 5 percent when compared to trucks equipped with manual or automated manual transmissions (AMTs). The TC10 uses 5^th Generation Electronic Controls and FuelSense technology to provide superior fuel economy features, prognostics to eliminate unnecessary oil and filter changes, and enhanced shift selector functionality. The TC10 maximizes powertrain efficiency while achieving and maintaining highway cruising speeds to save time and money.

For city and transit buses, Allison offers xFE technology to improve fuel economy up to 7 percent. With xFE, the transmission is designed specifically for the constant shifting and lower average speeds for these duty cycles. This allows buses to run longer where they are most efficient. The start-stop dense routes and lower average speed duty cycles present special challenges for any transmission. Allison with xFE meets these challenges without sacrificing drivability or performance and are compatible with alternative fuel engines.

About Allison Transmission
Allison Transmission (NYSE: ALSN) is the world's largest manufacturer of fully automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, and is a leader in hybrid-propulsion systems for city buses. Allison transmissions are used in a variety of applications including refuse, construction, fire, distribution, bus, motorhomes, defense and energy. Founded in 1915, the company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA and employs approximately 2,700 people worldwide. With a market presence in more than 80 countries, Allison has regional headquarters in the Netherlands, China and Brazil with manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Hungary and India. Allison also has approximately 1,400 independent distributor and dealer locations worldwide. For more information, visit allisontransmission.com.

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SOURCE Allison Transmission Holdings Inc.

Craig M. Koven, Manager, Communications & Media Relations, craig.koven@allisontransmission.com, 317-242-3432 office, 317-509-7670 mobile