ZF, a major supplier of car parts, has recently presented its first 2-speed electric transmission for electric vehicles (EV).This new solution for EVs comes as part of the ZF’s products for ‘Next Generation Mobility’. The presentation took place within the framework of Global Technology Day, 2019.

In late spring 2019, the Chinese company NIO launched series production of ES6 fully electric SUV, equipped with a brand-new electric vehicle transmission designed by Weibang (JV company established by Punch Powertrain and XPT).

The design of a four-wheel drive vehicle ensures the capacity of transmitting torque from the engine to all four wheels of the vehicle. Structural arrangements of 4WD systems allow realizing the full power potential of the car, its road handling, active car safety. The four-wheel drive car can be abbreviated as 4x4, 4WD, or AWD.

Recently, it has been reported that Babcox Media Inc. acquired Transmission Digest, covering transmission repair industry. For almost four decades, Transmission Digest (TD) has been keeping track of the main trends in development in the transmission repair industry.

Ford has recently reported about the start of a new business model and a new family of cars within the framework of the largest company’s restructuring of business processes in Europe. The American Auto Giant plans to bring a vast improvement in its financial performance in Europe this year, creating a basis for achieving stable economic viability and its objective of providing a 6% EBIT margin.

Chrysler has recently issued a recall of its 2014 Jeep Cherokee SUVs because of the transmission issue, namely it can spontaneously shift into neutral. According to company’s officials, the problem occurs in the transmission software, if the clutch gets locked in the transmission unit.

Hino Trucks has recently reported that the company amended its warranty coverage conditions. According to the introduced changes, 2020 Hino trucks equipped with Allison gear shifting solution will receive a five year unlimited mileage gearbox warranty from this moment on.

According to recent media reports, Cadillac plans to retain manual transnmission options for its V-Series, namely CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing, are likely to get three pedals.

The sales volume in the U.S. car aftermarket approached $297 bln in last year, surpassing the predicted growth rate by almost $1 bln. This is according to the data released by AASA in collaboration with the Auto Care Association.

Fans of manual Aston Martin models are jubilant as the company’s chief executive Andy Palmer has confirmed in the recent interview that the carmaker will offer a manual transmission option for its 2022 Vanquish model.

ZF, a major provider of powertrain solutions and related parts, has recently reported that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) had selected the company as its global supplier of transmission solutions for RWD and AWD cars. It is said that ZF will offer its latest 8-speed automatic transmission for FCA, which also turns out to be the 2-nd biggest deal in the ZF's history.

ZF Friedrichshafen has recently opened a production facility in Pančevo, Serbia to manufacture powertrain elements for hybrid and electric vehicles (EV). Currently, approximately 300 specialists work at the plant, but ZF is determined to expand the infrastructure and create approximately 700 additional jobs by 20 21.

Aisin World Corp. of America (AWA), an affiliate of Aisin Seiki, has set up a joint venture (JV) named Aisin Sales Latin America S.A. (ASLA) with Leon Import, a major wholesale distributor of spare parts for Japanese and Korean cars.

GKN Automotive, Drive System Design and the University of Nottingham joined forces on a promising project for the automobile industry. The main objective of this $10 million endeavor named ACeDrive is to produce innovative powertrain solution for electric vehicles (EVs).

Some of the top suppliers of auto parts in Europe have seen downward trend in revenue over the last year, but Robert Bosch has been a noteworthy exception. The company’s Mobility Solutions subsidiary, which is actively involved in production of automobile elements, made a large part of company's revenue (60%) in 2018, 0.4 % growth in sales to € 47.6 bln.