Latest Industry News
Fiat’s DCT Plant In China
Italy’s Fiat will begin building dual clutch transmissions in China in 2013, according to leading industry publication Automotive News China. The transmissions will be manufactured by Hangzhou Haveco Automotive Transmission Co., a joint venture between Fiat, Guangzhou Automobile and Hangzhou.
The investment is said to be $355 million and will boost Hangzhou’s gearbox output to 500,000 units in the longer term. It follows a deal struck in 2009 between Fiat and Guangzhou to build cars and engines for the Chinese market. The plant is expected to start production later this year, with an eventual annual capacity of 140,000 cars and 220,000 engines a year, said the publication.
No details have been given of the DCT transmissions to be made at the plant. However, the group’s C635 six-speed dry clutch unit would appear to be ideally suited to the C-segment vehicles to be built at the car plant. One of the plant’s models, a Fiat-branded Dodge Caliber, could be an early recipient of the DCT gearbox. It was one of the models due to receive the dual clutch unit to be made by Chrysler and Getrag at a US plant before the deal was cancelled.
Further expected derivatives of the Fiat DCT, such as the hybrid five-speed version and a later seven-speed for sporty vehicles, could also be made in China.
Ford – Also Making Automatics In China
Ford, too, is investing in a new plant in China to make automatic transmissions, linking up with Mazda and Chongqing Changan in the $350 million project.
The plant, due to open in late 2013, will have an initial annual capacity of 400,000 gearboxes, said Automotive News China. The stated product is a six-speed automatic, but Ford does not say whether this will be a torque converter planetary automatic or the dual clutch transmission developed in conjunction with Getrag. The latter, now in its second generation in the US market with a dry clutch in the Fiesta and Focus, would seem the obvious candidate. In Europe, where diesel engines are the favored choice by the majority of small and medium car buyers, the first-generation unit is retained because of its higher torque capacity.
Ford has also announced an important new program for a three-cylinder EcoBoost gasoline engine for global application. At 1.0 liters it is the smallest displacement engine ever made by Ford, yet thanks to direct injection and turbocharging, it claims the performance of a larger four cylinder. Features such as a friction-reducing offset crankshaft and a split cooling system mean it is likely to be highly competitive in terms of efficiency.
Announced at the same time was a new in-house hybrid system. This will be centered not on a DCT, as some had expected, but on a new CVT-based automatic transmission to be manufactured in the US. Ford did not state whether this was to be an electrical CVT, as in the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive system, or a mechanical push belt and pulley arrangement, as used by Honda and others.
GM Tools Up for 8-Speed Transmissions
General Motors has allocated an investment of $49 million to its Bedford, Indiana powertrain plant to produce components for a new small engine series and an eight-speed transmission.
“The all-new, eight-speed transmission will improve fuel economy in a number of future vehicles,” said GM manufacturing manager Arvin Jones, following the announcement. "And the new gasoline engine, which will be offered in displacements from 1.0 liters to 1.5 liters, is key to fuel economy leadership in the small four-cylinder engine segment."
It is not clear at this stage whether the new transmission will be a planetary automatic, a DCT or an AMT. GM did not give production start dates, or say whether the new transmission would be paired with the new small engine family or with existing GM engines.
Lower Axle Ratio Improves Economy
2012 model year editions of the Chevrolet Cruze will offer improved fuel economy, thanks to changes in its transmission. The most popular combination of the1.4 liter gasoline turbo engine and six speed automatic transmission on the Cruze Eco improves its mpg from 37 to 39, thanks to a lower final drive ratio, said GM.
The move helps narrow the gap to the most economical model in the Cruze range, the six-speed manual. GM claims that, at 42 mpg, this is the most fuel efficient gasoline powered non-hybrid vehicle in North America. The Cruze is GM’s best-selling nameplate around the world.
Volvo To Test Flywheel KERS
Potential fuel consumption savings of up to 20 percent are expected for a flywheel-based kinetic energy recovery system to be tested by Volvo. The carbon fiber flywheel, weighing only 6 kg (13 lbs), is fitted to the rear axle of the front-drive vehicle, and spins at up to 60,000 rpm when the vehicle slows or is braked. A Torotrak CVT transmission unit ensures that the rotational speeds are matched, and the combustion engine is cut as soon as braking begins.
The energy stored in the vacuum-mounted flywheel is proportion to the square of its rotational speed. It is fed back to the road wheels, again through the speed-matching transmission, whenever the vehicle requires power for acceleration. Zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration times are significantly cut, says Volvo. Powertrain engineering vice president Derek Crabb estimates that, with the flywheel in operation, the combustion engine can remain switched off for about half of the official European driving cycle.
Story Filed: 7/25/2011
By Tony Lewin, managing editor DCTfacts.com