China carmakers to develop DCTs with BorgWarner

Shanghai, August 4 (Gasgoo.com) Coordinated by the country's top economic planner, 10 Chinese automakers will join hands to develop automatic transmissions, especially the double-clutch transmissions (DCT), with America's BorgWarner Transmission Systems, in an effort to reduce the import of these auto parts, said xinhuanet.com today. 

This multi-party joint venture, named "China United Development Industry Co. Ltd." and organized by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), will sign a join venture agreement with BorgWarner this month. The U.S. company will hold 66% stake in the venture and the remaining 33% will be shared by the 10 Chinese carmakers. Of the Chinese-controlled stake, auto-making giants FAW and SAIC will each get 20%, and the other eight carmakers, such as Dengfeng, Changan, Brilliance, Geely and Chery, will hold 5%-10%.

As one of the important auto parts, the DCT is the cutting-edge technology of automatic transmissions and is widely used in the world's auto-making industry. The DCTs used in China's new vehicle models have been imported from foreign suppliers, and the annual export value exceeds 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion). China's industry regulator and carmakers strongly hope the DCTs can be developed and produced by themselves.

Although the national automakers have joined together for this self-development project, the core technologies of the DCT are controlled by a few foreign auto-parts manufacturers, such as America's BorgWarner Transmission Systems and Germany's Schaeffler Group. Without these technologies, it is impossible to develop the DCTs independently in China.

After talks with BorgWarner earlier this year, China United Development Industry will sign a deal with the American company this month for cooperation on the DCT project in China. The cost for introducing the core DCT technologies of BorgWarner will also be shared by the Chinese carmakers involved in this joint venture.