Market Trends of Automotive Automatic Transmission Industry
OEMs Focusing on Developing Advanced Automatic Transmission
The German automatic transmission supplier ZF developed a new 8-speed automatic transmission. The company mainly focused on improving fuel efficiency by using lightweight technology.
The new gear set design consists of four planetary gear sets and five shift elements that help minimize drag and improve transmission efficiency. The optional hydraulic impulse oil storage (HIS) offers a start/stop function, which can increase fuel savings.
This new automatic transmission is hybrid compatible and can be used across all AWD dive concepts, which include AWD center differential integrated, integrated AWD system, and hang-on AWD.
On average, ZF manufactures 3.5 million units of its 8-speed automatic transmission for Aston Martin, FCA, JLR, and the Volkswagen group yearly. In 2019, the company received a billion-dollar contract from BMW. ZF is expected to supply its latest version of this 8-speed automatic transmission for a BMW series of models that may be launched in 2022.
Additionally, as the logistics industry is gaining back its pace, the demand for transmission in the commercial sector is expected to increase. Hence, in February 2021, ZF announced a USD 200 million investment in commercial vehicle transmission manufacturing to cater to the increased demand in North America. Beginning in 2023, ZF will manufacture its PowerLine 8-speed automatic transmission in Gray Court, South Carolina, creating 500 jobs in the United States.
Furthermore, ZF is also testing the possibilities of starting the production of this technology for China and the United States, where the shares of automatic passenger cars are high.
Asia-Pacific is Expected to Witness the Fastest Growth Rate
Asia-Pacific is expected to witness the fastest growth rate during the forecast period. In the Asia-Pacific region, countries such as China, India, and the ASEAN countries, are anticipated to witness high demand for automatic cars, especially in India, with the continually growing vehicle population.
In India, the demand for automatic transmission cars and SUVs has significantly increased over the past three years.
Automatic vehicle sales have risen from a meager 1.4% in 2011 to 17.3% in 2019. This increase is primarily due to increased traffic and exhausting driving conditions in metropolitan regions, but manual transmissions are still the preferred mode of transportation in rural India. Maruti Suzuki was India's largest producer of automatic cars, with sales accounting for over 132,000 units in 2020.
Almost 80% of the cars sold in India are under the price range of 12 lakhs. Within this price range, Maruti Suzuki's Vitara Brezza, Dzire, Baleno, Hyundai Verna, and Honda City are the top-selling automatic transmission cars in the country.
Although most Indian buyers prefer a manual SUV, the demand for automatic transmission SUVs has increased over the past two years. Most of the premium SUV models available in the Indian market, such as Skoda Kodiaq, Volkswagen Tiguan, Audi Q-Series, BMW X-Series, etc., have an automatic transmission as a standard system.
In the light of the worsening road conditions, advancements in technology, growing preference toward economy and convenience, and rising demand for fuel-efficient cars, the demand for automatic transmission vehicles in India are expected to grow rapidly during the forecast period.
Although the market is running slow, the Dual Clutch Automatic Gearbox is gaining popularity because of its high-speed gearshift rate, which is very useful and is employed in most performance cars and supercars. Hence, many car makers like Hyundai, Skoda, Volkswagen, Tata, and others have started incorporating DCT technology.
In March 2022, Tata Motors launched its premium hatchback with a dual-clutch transmission called the DCA in India.
