BorgWarner has secured two new European customers for its DualTronic transmission technology already seen – as the Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) option – in Volkswagen group car lines.
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The new programmes with undisclosed vehicle makers, start production in 2007 and are for vehicle types that range from compact and mid- sized to luxury passenger cars and sport-utility vehicles.
Combined annual production is expected to be 600,000 units at full production volumes.
DualTronic is an industry-first wet-clutch and control- system technology for automated transmissions. It enables a conventional manual gearbox to function as a fully automatic transmission while delivering emissions and fuel economy improvements of up to 15% over traditional automatics, depending on the application.
The technology also eliminates the “torque-interrupt” feeling that occurs when a manual or automated manual transmission shifts gears, enabling a smooth, yet sporty, fun-to-drive vehicle performance. BorgWarner expects the demand for this technology to grow to 20% of the European passenger car market by 2015.
Billed as DSG, DualTronic debuted on the VW Golf R32 and the Audi TT in 2003. The technology is now available on a range of VW and Audi vehicles introduced since then, including the diesel and turbocharged direct-injected petrol engine versions of the VW Golf, Touran, Passat; and Jetta; the Audi A3 Sportback; the Skoda Octavia; and the Seat Altea, Toledo and Leon.
