According to industry experts, factors like high costs and lack of market awareness have caused the continuously variable transmission (CVT) market to suffer restrained growth. However, future emissions targets and the demand for an enhanced driving experience are generating growth in the segment.
Building on tradition
Former DAF subsidiary, Punch Powertrain, is a producer of CVTs. In the late 1980s, the company started to produce metal v-belt CVTs , and has continued with this development ever since.
Having developed a strategy to become a multi-customer organisation, Gert-Jan Vogelaar, Strategic Marketing Director at Punch Powertrain, says the next step is to become a multi-product company. “Over the coming two to three years, we will introduce a number of new developments. We will look to spread out globally. It is certainly an exciting time ahead of us.”
Developing more components
Anticipating imminent growth, the number one priority for Punch Powertrain is to expand its product portfolio in order to access new markets. Consequently, the company is expanding out of its CVT roots, and has been making considerable efforts in R&D to develop various innovative components, such as its HT1 Hybrid Electric Powertrain and HT2 Flywheel Hybrid Powertrain.
The HT1 Hybrid Electric Powertrain, explains Vogelaar, was developed primarily with the Chinese market in mind. It has a switched reluctance (SR) electric motor which is connected to the output of the variator, minimising the impact of parasitic losses within the transmission. The HT1 aims to improve the fuel economy of the vehicle by around 35%.
The HT2 Flywheel Hybrid Powertrain targets emerging markets, and is ideal for countries like India, says Vogelaar. “You can keep the costs low, but you don’t jeopardise the benefits in fuel efficiency.” Although it achieves roughly half of the fuel savings compared to the HT1 Hybrid Electric Powertrain, the HT2 is far cheaper, not only on the transmission level, but even more so on system level as no batteries are required. Furthermore, the company is also working on its ‘EV powertrain’, which will utilise the same SR electric motor technology found in the HT1.
Along with these various powertrain developments, Punch Powertrain is producing a separate transmission that can be utilised across various types of hybrid and electric powertrains. Dubbed the VT5, the new transmission will be added to the growing CVT family that Punch Powertrain designs and manufactures.
Importance of Asia
Although Vogelaar details Punch Powertrain’s strategy to grow in various markets, he suggests that Asia will remain a key market for the company, particularly for its existing CVT business. In fact, “90% of our customers come from China, and 70% of all automatic transmissions in the A/B segment will be sold in Asia by 2020,” he says.
Apart from Asia, the US is also showing a renewed interest in CVT. “Four car models in the top five US bestsellers are equipped with CVT,” explains Vogelaar. What is more, GM has recently announced it will produce a CVT. “In the C/D segment, about 70% of the automatics will be sold in the Chinese and US market combined. There will be a shift towards producing components that meet the demands of these markets, and the price of these technologies will fall,” he observes.
Originally, the perception of the high cost of CVTs has been detrimental to their uptake. However extensive cost reduction programs have enabled Punch Powertrain to succeed in the Chinese market. “We are now offering a very competitive package to the Chinese OEMs,” claims Vogelaar. He also notes cost as a potential obstacle for the company’s new products. When considering its new hybrid and electric powertrains, the influence of incentives offered by Asian governments could be crucial to the success of the new technologies.
“We do have a huge interest from China for our hybrid and electric drive products,” he continues. “What we have also seen is that customers who are interested in these products show an interest in our CVTs as well, so it’s also helping us to sell more conventional transmissions. All our products are following the trend of improving fuel economy, and are very relevant in today’s market.”
Of particular importance, and a growing trend that Punch Powertrain expects to continue, is the adoption of 48 Volt (48V) applications. “I think 48V systems will start popping up quite a lot in China, as well as full hybrid systems,” suggests Vogelaar. “With things changing in terms of regulation both in Europe as well as in China, OEMs can hardly survive if they don’t offer hybrid 48 Volt and electric powertrain solutions,” he says.
In keeping with the theme of expansion, Punch Powertrain is developing a 48V system which it is targeting at the increasingly strict emissions standards that will be implemented by 2020.
Opportunity elsewhere
Vogelaar is confident that, by 2020, the Asian market will “dominate worldwide automatic transmissions sales in the A/B segment, and the combined Chinese and US market will dominate the C/D segment in terms of automatic transmissions sales.” Combining this with the trend of the reduced number of different components being offered by an OEM, Vogelaar expects that the requirements for the A-D segment cars and their transmissions will not be determined by Europe, but by Asia and the US. Consequently, “we are not going to make a specific transmission solely for Europe for these relatively low numbers,” he remarks.
Evidently, Punch Powertrain considers Asia an extremely important market for its growth and success. However, by investing its R&D efforts into products like the HT2 Flywheel Hybrid Powertrain, the company is showing its dedication and aspiration to become a supplier of innovative, clean powertrain technologies for a broader market.
What is more, “even though we do not have products other than our CVT in production at the moment, the fact that we are working on hybrids and EVs is a signal to our customers that we are not only a supplier for today but also for the future,” concludes Vogelaar.
Michael Nash