Under its SACHS brand, ZF Aftermarket has presented an improved clutch kit intended for performance-oriented cars and those operating under severe driving conditions. To demonstrate how engineering concepts are converted into serial products, and to mark the 80-years’ presence in motorsport, the company has invited 3 well-known racing drivers to participate in the new “Brand Ambassador” initiative.

Today, it may be hard to believe today, but in the 80s, GM amazed the automotive market with cars with remarkable gear shifting mechanisms. These remarkable shifters allowed drivers of automatic cars to shift gears manually.

Proton, a Malaysian automotive company, has recently announced that the new X70 SUV model will be equipped with a 7-speed DCT transmission, and before its official release, the automaker invited a group of media reporters to China for the purpose of learning more about the new transmission solution.

FCA has recently issued a recall of more than 222,000 model year 2014-2019 Ram ProMaster vans because of the transmission problem, namely shifter cables may detach from the transmission unit. As a result, the vehicle may not change gears as the driver intends, i.e. the lever position won’t match the engaged gears, thereby creating the possibility of unsafe situations on the road.

During the recent HDAW exhibition, Eaton has revealed the details on the expansion of its clutch and PTO portfolios. Advantage Automated Series clutches and two new Bezares PTO solutions will find application in a variety of vehicles and transmissions available on the North American market.

BorgWarner Inc. (BW) and Delphi Technologies PLC have recently reached an agreement on a final transaction agreement under which BW will take over Delphi Technologies (DT) in an all-stock transaction that estimates assets of the latter at about $3.3 bln.

After the huge success of the VT2/VT3 transmission line in China, Punch Powertrain came up with a series of other innovative solutions. One of them was a VT5 transmission that hit the market just over a year ago. Within such a short period of time, the company managed to produce the 100.000's VT5 unit.

The continuing story around powertrain details of Cadillac’s upcoming CT4-V and CT5-V models has already created a lot of speculations, and the latest rumors say that both cars will receive well-known GM performance-oriented engines and most interestingly, manual transmissions.

Jasper Engines & Transmissions has recently established a branch office in Pensacola, Florida, to improve the quality and speed of services for local businesses. Moreover, the company’s facility in Willow Springs has recently reached a new height in production of automotive transmissions.

The American Auto Giant Ford has recently offered a $30 mln out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit related to failure-prone Powershift transmissions installed in 2012-2016 Focus and 2011-2016 Fiesta models. Numerous lawsuits, including a collective court action that was initiated in April 2017, have been filed on behalf of car owners unsatisfied with the Powershift unit performance.

Most of automatic transmission issues stem from ATF, thus repair professionals pay special attention to ATF and its timely change. If potential risks of lower ATF level are intuitively clear to most of car owners (oil starvation can lead to numerous malfunctions or even failure of the whole transmission unit), the situation with the fluid overflow may be misleading.

GKN Automotive, a major provider of e-drives, AWD systems and driveline solutions, and Delta Electronics Inc. (DELTA), a well-known manufacturer of power and thermal management solutions, will cooperate in a joint project aimed at development of high-tech 3-in-1 (inverter, motor and transmission) eDrive systems.

Recently, it has been reported that Meritor, Inc. has taken over Transportation Power (more commonly known as TransPower) by purchasing all of its outstanding common shares. The details of this deal haven’t been unveiled.

Allison Transmission, who made a significant contribution to the development of the urban passenger bus (Agrale MA 17) in Brazil during the past year, has confirmed positive results during the testing stage. This bus was assigned to the transportation company TUA to estimate the operating characteristics and benefits of Allison’s products, when buses are used on a daily basis.

ZF Aftermarket has recently unveiled a range of technical training themes for their webinar trainings. All interested persons (from students to auto repair experts) are welcome to become acquainted with innovative repair methods, and openly examine the latest automotive trends. The professionals from the ZF Aftermarket tech team will provide a detailed and clear explanation on the specified topics.