Geely Auto to produce DSI gearbox at three plants

Shanghai, March 12 (Gasgoo.com) Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. will start production of gearboxes at three plants based on the technology of Drivetrain Systems International (DSI) this year, SinoCast reported

Production at the plants in Jining city of eastern China's Shandong province and Xiangtan city of central Hunan province is expected to start after the 2010 Beijing auto show (Auto China 2010), which is to be held in late April.

Another DSI plant of Geely will start operation later in southwestern city of Chongqing with a total investment of 800 million yuan ($117 mln) and an annual capacity of 300,000 units.

The three plants will provide automatic gearboxes for Geely and Chinese carmakers, said Li Shufu, board chairman of Geely. In 2009, Geely acquired Australian automatic gearbox maker DSI.

The DSI technology will enable the Chinese carmaker to produce gearboxes compatible with engines above 2.0L. Geely's existing automatic gearbox can only equip engines below 1.8L.