Allison Transmission Inc. says it has made a non-controlling equity investment in Odyne Systems LLC, a company that specializes in hybrid control systems for commercial vehicles.

Allison's automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles will complement Odyne's systems in applications such as utility bucket trucks, digger derricks, cranes and others. Odyne sells its hybrid systems for both new and retrofit applications directly to truck manufacturers and through a global distribution and service network.

Allison has been offering hybrid propulsion systems for city buses since 2003. The company says the Allison H 40/50 EP is currently being used in 230 cities worldwide.