Shares in Britain’s engineering and technology firm Torotrak Plc lost nearly 60% of their value after it emerged that GM will not exercise its option to purchase the company’s innovative fuel-cutting Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT) technology.
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GM’s decision follows Toyota’s withdrawal at the end of 2000. However, the company has plenty of other existing licensees including Ford.
Analyst and transmissions specialist Mark Wilkinson said: “GM’s decision is not wholly unexpected in the current cost-cutting climate. However, the company has plenty of other licensees and there is still great interest in its technology. Ford, for example, is still testing IVT.”
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IVT (also known as a toroidal transmission) has been in development for many years. It is based on a simple arrangement of input/output discs and variable angle rollers that run between them-without the need for the belt used in Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT).
Torotrak developed and patented the system and continues to develop it for a number of car and gearbox makers around the world.
A Japanese transmissions maker (Jatco) already has a form of IVT in series production for the domestic market and Nissan has an IVT-type unit in use in some of its domestic market executive cars.
