GKN Driveline’s Torque Technology Group is introducing a new power transfer unit (PTU) for all-wheel- drive vehicles in North America and Japan that it says is lighter and stronger than previous designs, while providing reduced noise, vibration and harshness.

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The new PTU is the result of a two-and-a-half-year development program with DaimlerChrysler and Mitsubishi. In North America, the new unit will be available on three (unspecified) 2007-model DaimlerChrysler vehicles and will be manufactured at a GKN Driveline facility in Bowling Green, Ohio.


The company recently completed a multi-million-dollar renovation of the Bowling Green plant to prepare for the PTU’s production launch and to optimise lean manufacturing at the facility. There are plans to add a second shift to the plant’s PTU assembly line early next year.


GKN Driveline began production of the new PTU for Mitsubishi last September at a plant in Nagoya, Japan.


Robert Genway-Haden, regional engineering director for GKN Driveline’s Torque Technology Group in Auburn Hills, Michigan, noted that every PTU produced at the Bowling Green facility will undergo an extensive, industry-first gear-meshing quality check as part of the company’s standard end-of-line NVH test.

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Product development engineers used “face-hobbing” technology – for cutting hypoid gears – to increase the PTU’s power density and reduce manufacturing costs, according to Genway-Haden. The new design provides units that are lighter, but also capable of transferring more power.


“The launch of our new PTU has been truly a global effort with collaboration among our engineering, business development, purchasing and manufacturing departments in Japan and North America.”