What Fras-le North America makes

Fras-le North America is the US arm of Frasle Mobility, a Brazilian friction-materials manufacturer, and it runs a brake-friction plant in Prattville, Alabama. The Prattville site produces heavy-duty commercial-vehicle brake linings and disc brake pads. Heavy-duty lining production started there in 2013, the first time the parent company had built commercial-vehicle brake linings in the United States rather than importing them from Brazil or China.

The plant sits in the friction-materials segment of the automotive supply base: engineered composite pads, blocks, and linings that convert a vehicle's kinetic energy into heat under braking. The broader Frasle Mobility portfolio, distributed into North America alongside the Prattville output, spans brake pads, brake linings, lined brake shoes, brake rotors, air disc brake pads and rotors, and clutch facings across commercial vehicles, light vehicles, motorcycles, aviation, rail, and industrial applications. Fras-le serves both OEM programs and the aftermarket, and the group markets copper-free friction formulations developed ahead of US and California copper-restriction rules for brake pads.

Ownership and history

Fras-le North America, Inc. is a Delaware corporation, incorporated in 1990, and a subsidiary of Frasle Mobility (Fras-le S.A., B3: FRAS3), headquartered in Caxias do Sul, Brazil. Fras-le itself was founded in 1954 and is part of the Randon Companies (Randoncorp) industrial group. Frasle Mobility is publicly listed, which makes it one of the better-documented Tier 1 friction suppliers operating in the US, even though the US subsidiary does not report standalone financials.

Fras-le entered US manufacturing in 2008, taking over the former Haldex brake plant in Prattville and retaining the 45 employees already working there. Much of the roughly 208,000-square-foot facility was empty at the time. The company then invested to grow it: an $11 million expansion announced in 2012 added equipment and nearly 100 jobs and enabled the 2013 heavy-duty lining launch, and cumulative investment reached about $15.5 million by 2019, the year the local Chamber of Commerce named Fras-le North America the Prattville Industry of the Year. The company also runs a US sales and engineering office in Michigan, which moved from Southfield to Northville and then to Auburn Hills in August 2019.

Certifications and quality

Fras-le operates a documented quality-management system. Public profiles list the company as certified to ISO 9001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environmental management), the standards expected of a friction manufacturer supplying commercial-vehicle programs. The group markets its global certifications on its own channels, and IATF 16949, the automotive quality standard, is the sector norm for OE and aftermarket friction suppliers of this type. The certificate details posted for the US site are not dated, so the quality signal is reported here as a current claim rather than a verified certificate date. The Prattville plant staffs an active quality and EHS function and recruits quality roles locally.

Known customers

Most of Fras-le's downstream customers are unnamed, as is normal for a friction supplier serving OEM and aftermarket programs. One relationship is on the public record:

Beyond that documented relationship, the customs record ties Fras-le North America's inbound flow to its own global plants rather than to a customer roster. Shared-supplier inferences are not made here because the foreign suppliers are largely intra-group.

Sourcing evidence

Fras-le North America's US import record reads like an integrated multinational supplying its own American operation: 809 sea shipments on record, with the most recent dated April 9, 2026. The largest foreign suppliers are inside the same corporate family, which is the signature of a subsidiary drawing product and materials from its parent's global manufacturing network rather than sourcing on the open market. The most active named origins:

The mix points to a company that finishes and distributes friction products in the United States while pulling linings, pads, and raw materials from Frasle Mobility plants in Brazil and China. That intra-group sourcing pattern matters to buyers weighing tariff exposure and nearshoring: the US plant is a domestic production and distribution point, but its upstream inputs cross borders from Brazil, China, and Mexico.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Air, truck, and rail movements do not appear; some records name freight intermediaries rather than manufacturers; and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does Fras-le North America make?

Fras-le North America manufactures heavy-duty commercial-vehicle brake linings and disc brake pads at its plant in Prattville, Alabama, where US lining production began in 2013. It also distributes the broader Frasle Mobility portfolio of brake pads, linings, brake shoes, rotors, air disc brakes, and clutch facings for commercial and passenger vehicles.

Who owns Fras-le North America?

Fras-le North America, Inc. is a Delaware corporation and a subsidiary of Frasle Mobility (Fras-le S.A., B3: FRAS3) of Caxias do Sul, Brazil. Fras-le was founded in 1954 and is part of the Randon Companies industrial group. The US entity was incorporated in 1990 and began US manufacturing in 2008.

Where is Fras-le North America located?

Its manufacturing plant and US corporate address are at 103 Echlin Boulevard, Prattville, Alabama 36067. The company also runs a sales and engineering office in Auburn Hills, Michigan, which moved there in August 2019 from Southfield and Northville.

Who are Fras-le North America's customers?

Most customers are unnamed. The documented relationship on the public record is with Meritor, which has been the exclusive North American aftermarket distributor of Fras-le heavy-duty brake linings under a multi-year supply agreement dating back more than 16 years. The company serves commercial-vehicle and passenger-vehicle OEM and aftermarket channels.

What certifications does Fras-le North America hold?

Public profiles list Fras-le as certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. IATF 16949 is the automotive quality standard expected of OE and aftermarket friction suppliers, and the group markets its global certifications. The US certificate dates are not published on the site, so certification currency is reported as a current claim.

How large is Fras-le North America?

Fras-le North America employs roughly 160 people across its US locations, centered on the roughly 208,000-square-foot Prattville plant. The US subsidiary does not report standalone revenue; its parent, Frasle Mobility, reported consolidated net revenue of about R$4 billion in 2024.

Last verified September 27, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.