Volkswagen DSG plant in China to operate in 2009

Shanghai, August1 (Gasgoo.com) Volkswagen DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) factory in China will start its trial run by late 2009 and will start mass-production at the beginning of 2010 with an annual output of 300,000 gearboxes for the first phase, reported Beijing News, citing Volkswagen (VW) China.

The VW DSG factory, whose construction started at the end of 2007 in Dalian, is invested with over $400 million by VW and is near to the FAW VW Engine plant. The new factory will produce the DQ200 seven-speed DSG dual clutch transmission, a global high-tech AT (automatic transmission) which can lower energy consumption effectively.
 
The new plant will reportedly cover an area of 160,000 square meters and its annual output will reach 300,000 units for the first phase.

The DSG produced will be used on China-produced VW vehicle models, including Magotan, Sagitar and the upcoming Tiguan. DSG is expected to replace the existing six-speed AT/MT (manual transmission) in the future years.

Chinese DSG production is an important part of VW’s hybrid strategy targeting to reduce emission and energy consumption as well as to improve the local production rate of essential components, according to Koch, executive vice president of VW China’s manufacturing and logistics division.