Under the guidance of Daimler, its local subsidiary, Star Assembly, has kicked off assembly of the 9-speed automatic gearbox at its newest facility, in Sebes, Romania.
Star Assembly, which was founded in 2013, in Sebes, was initially in charge of producing the 5-speed automatic transmission, but one year later it began assembly of the 7-speed auto and now it produces the 9-speed automatic gearbox too.
The new facility is part of Daimler’s investment of more than €300 million ($341 million), which has led to the creation of approximately 1,00 additional jobs with the subsidiary. The production site covers a size of around 10 football pitches and some 5,000 tonnes of metal and 500 km of cables went into its construction.
Star Assembly isn’t the only local subsidiary, as Daimler also has Star Transmission, which was founded in 2001, in Cugir, and is in charge of manufacturing gearwheels and shafts, along with machined components for engines, transmissions and steering systems.
The 9-speed auto was available initially on the E 350 BlueTEC and it quickly joined the GLE Coupe too. Mercedes-Benz states that all new E-Class drive variations available at market launch are equipped as standard with the 9G-TRONIC 9-speed auto and, in the coming years, the gearbox will be used in almost all model series that have longitudinally mounted engines.
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