Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has reached a supply deal with transmission manufacturer ZF to use a new eight-speed automatic transmission in its future rear- and all-wheel drive vehicles with front-longitudinal engine configuration.
This gearbox uses an integrated electric drive and will work with virtually any car in FCA’s range with a front-longitudinal layout. The transmission can also be used in plug-in hybrid vehicles and while FCA has yet to specify which of its models will get the transmission, it is expected to find its way into some of the company’s largest models.
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Production of the new transmission is set to commence in 2022 and will be built at the company’s factory in Saarbrucken, Germany. At a later date, the gearbox will also be manufactured in other locations, including the United States and China.
“We are pleased being nominated as global transmission supplier by FCA. This is our second major order for the new 8HP and it confirms our strategy to focus on plug-in hybrids as an every-day solution and to develop attractive products in these areas,” ZF chief executive Wolf-Henning Scheider said.
ZF says this is the second largest order in its history and comes just three months after it inked its largest single order with BMW to supply its latest-generation 8HP transmission.
Some car manufacturers are starting to shift away from dual-clutch transmissions towards those supplied by ZF. BMW, for example, only sells the new M5 with ZF’s 8HP torque converter transmission as opposed to the old dual-clutch. Not only is the ZF unit cheaper, bt it is also more reliable and can easily support the power and torque figures of most of the industry’s turbocharged engines.
