Nissan to produce CVT-equipped cars in China

Shanghai, February 20 (Gasgoo.com) Nissan Motor plans to roll out vehicles with higher fuel efficiency in China, using a local venture to manufacture cars installed with continuously variable transmissions (CVT), sina.com said today.

Dongfeng Nissan, a joint venture between Nissan Motor and its Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor Corp, has said at least 50% of its cars will be equipped with the CVT by 2012. The CVT will help save fuel by about 10%.

Nissan's affiliate firm Jatco Ltd. is set to open a CVT factory with annual capacity of 150,000 units in southern China's Guangzhou city in mid-2009. Consumer interest in fuel-efficient vehicles is growing in China, where the fuel tax was raised last month from 0.2 yuan per liter to 1 yuan ($0.147).

CVT operates on an ingenious pulley system that allows an infinite variability between highest and lowest gears with no discrete steps or shifts, thus eliminating damage from shift changing and transmission torque and improving vehicle fuel efficiency.

Dongfeng Nissan sold 350,000 vehicles in 2008, up 29.63% from 2007, and overtook Shanghai VW as China's top car-seller in January 2009 by selling 43,000 vehicles in the month, up 10% from a year earlier.

Last year, the joint venture automaker made an ambitious 5-year business plan to launch 15 new vehicle models and lift annual sales to 1 million units and revenue 10 billion yuan by 2012.