Hella TMD Friction range

Although predominantly known in Australia for LED lighting products, there’s more to Hella Australia than its award-winning lights. Now, the heavy vehicle industry down under is being introduced to a whole new side of the business.

For many a professional working in the Australian road transport industry, the name Hella is synonymous with LED lighting. There is justification for this common belief too, according to Hella Key Account Manager Aftermarket, Gordon Scott-Worthington. “Hella Australia has a vast range of commercial and passenger vehicle lighting products available for operators to pick and choose from, and they have been very successful in the Australian market,” Gordon says.

While LED products are still the main focus at Hella, the company is expanding its portfolio to include commercial vehicle braking products, most notably the TMD Friction product lines, Textar and Don. “We’re getting the word out there to the Australian operators that Hella is not just an expert at lighting products for commercial vehicles, we are part of a large group of brands,” says Gordon. “Textar and Don are the most recent names to join the Hella offering and the Melbourne Truck Show is a good platform to tell the local industry.”

According to Hella Managing Director, Darren Robinson, the TMD Friction product ranges cover the entire commercial vehicle braking market, regardless of budget. Textar, an OE product, is the premium product that Hella says is the number one brand for OE brake pads in European vehicles and applications. “The Textar range is 100 per cent developed in Germany, and is known for being lightweight and environmentally friendly with unquestionable braking power,” says Darren.

Meanwhile, he describes the Don product line, which is developed, designed and produced in the same production plants using different friction materials to Textar, as “excellent value for money without compromising on safety”.

Regardless of which brand is chosen, the products are both developed and thoroughly tested by European company TMD Friction, which has 135 years of braking experience backing it. “Hella is known in Australia for our quality LED lighting products, so we are doing exactly the same thing with sourcing braking products,” says Darren.

Kicking off the braking launch, Hella is now offering Textar and Don brake pads, disc and linings for all commercial trailer, bus and coach applications. “Same with every other Hella product, we’re offering technical trailing and fleet development programs,” says Gordon. “We’re showing them at a fleet level the benefits of using the quality braking products from Hella. We’re more than just lighting, and the new braking product lines are just the start.”

Leave a Reply

Send this to a friend