Jatco, which is 75 percent owned by Nissan, is opening a new CVT manufacturing plant in China as part of a plan to increase its global output of CVT systems by one quarter by 2011.

A spokesman quoted by Automotive News Europe said the plant would open in spring 2009 to make 140,000 continuously-variable transmissions a year. Jatco’s investment was ¥ 6 billion (EURO CONVERSION), said the paper. Jatco’s aim is to raise its CVT output to 2 million units a year by 2011, the company is quoted as saying. It is the sole supplier of CVT systems to Nissan.

Among CVT’s advantages are improved fuel efficiency, which is leading European manufactures to choose the system for new models.
As an example, Renault features a CVT option on its new Mégane.