Jatco Still Counts on CVT technologies as the Automobile Industry Approaches Electrification
Despite the fact that the CVT market has been growing over the last years, Jatco is preparing itself for electrified vehicles. At the Shanghai Auto Show the company has showcased new e-Axle powertrain units two for future EVs: a coaxial type and a 3-axis type.
Today, Jatco is the top supplier of CVTs all over the world, occupying a market share of about 35% in 2018. And it is cost-efficient, having registered a nearly 10% operating margin in fiscal 2017. Teruaki Nakatsuka, Jatco’s president and CEO, looks to the company’s future with optimism. In a recent interview, he has pointed out that Jatco will put in great efforts to expand its presence on the world markets.
Teruaki Nakatsuka, President and CEO of Jatco
The company plans to set up a new manufacturing
facility in China by the end of 2019. It is expected that the production output
will reach half a million units of CVT8 transmissions, increasing company’s
capacity in China to 1.6 million to cope with a high demand for cars equipped
with CVTs. Last year, Nissan alone manufactured over 1.5 million cars.
Currently, shortages of CVTs for the Chinese market are compensated by supplies
from Jatco production facilities in Japan and Thailand. At the moment, Jatco produces CVTs at 7 plants
in China, Japan, Thailand, and Mexico with the overall output of 4.5 million.
Currently, the company has no intentions to manufacture CVTs in Europe because it is economically unviable. In contrast to North America, cars with manual transmissions still prevail over CVTs on the European automobile market. Regarding North American markets, Jatco’s production facility in Mexico with the annual production capacity of 1.7 million units is able to meet the demand in the region.
Mr. Nakatsuka presents Jatco’s products at the
exhibition in Shanghai
At the same time, Jatco is not going to remain uninvolved in the fast-growing field of electrified vehicles (EVs). Recently, the company has showcased new e-Axle powertrain units two for future EVs: a coaxial type and a 3-axis type. The list of exhibited products also included Jatco’s transmissions produced in China. Jatco plans to sell its e-Axle units to the Chinese and European markets, but currently the Chinese market is a priority.
Jatco claims that its e-Axle technology reduces
CO2 emissions by 14% compared to a car equipped with a standard CVT and a start-stop
unit. The company assumes that this solution will meet future CO2 emissions
requirements (which are getting more stringent) at the most reasonable cost.
Mr. Nakatsuka thinks that the pace of full
electrification will be determined by customers who are willing to buy EVs as
well as by their prices, quality, reliability – rather than by OEMs and
governments. The growth of EV share on the global market will undoubtedly
accelerate, but it won’t skyrocket. Jatco’s CEO predicts that EV sales will
grow to 15%-20% of new-car demand in 2030.
Despite the fact that the CVT market has been growing over the last years, Jatco officials are realistic about a high potential of the electrification trend and they expect that in two decades EVs will become a serious competitive power to Jatco’s CVTs. No wonder, Jatco has already started developing products which can find application in EVs.
