BorgWarner, a company that manufactures dual clutch transmission products and other powertrain systems has recently announced that it will launch a new dual clutch transmission for small cars and other developing markets. According to the company, this action is their next step in revolutionizing the transmission market. These developing markets include Asian car manufacturers, like in China and India which will work with BorgWarner to provide dual-clutch transmission packages to meet the needs of small car markets. BorgWarner plans to develop fuel efficient and affordable dual-clutch transmission products to these automakers.
According to Dr. Bernd Matthes, President and General Manager, BorgWarner Transmission Systems: “Drivers in developing markets like China and India are looking for the ease of using an automatic transmission in an affordable vehicle. Up until now, the complexity and cost of automatic transmissions made it impractical to package this option in smaller cars. With BorgWarner’s new design, we can deliver the responsive, fuel-efficient, fun-to drive characteristics of a dual-clutch transmission in a smaller, more affordable package. The unique architecture of our compact dual-clutch transmission is expected to expand the use of automatic transmissions in emerging markets.”
Matthes added: “Test results with this transmission indicate a 13% fuel efficiency improvement, better top-end speed and a significant improvement in acceleration over automatic transmissions currently in production.”
BorgWarner is planning to launch the DualTronic dual-clutch transmission design in the small car segment. According to the company, this new architecture will provide similar performance and fuel efficiency to small and subcompact cars like those larger vehicles with this type of dual-clutch technology. BorgWarner is still on the process of testing the new dual-clutch transmission and is expected to be implemented within two or three years. This new dual-clutch transmission comes with a patent-pending ‘power split’ design that uses a large number of common and simplified parts and modules. This enhances the fuel efficiency and affordability of the new transmission, as well as the ease of packaging in small cars.
Matthes continued:
“The competition in this fast-growing and high-potential market segment is fierce and extremely motivating. Together with our OEM partners, we are working relentlessly to craft affordable, differentiating systems that distinguish our customers’ products from their competition and keep BorgWarner at the forefront of transmission technology.”
In addition, BorgWarner expects that the new dual clutch transmission will have an impact in small cars as the segment is expected to grow 30% over the next five years. Maybe this new dual clutch transmission will be installed in Acura CL (with Acura CL car cover) someday.
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