Jatco chief expects growth in CVTs

Upbeat about demand for fuel-efficient cars, Shigeo Ishida, president of Japanese car parts manufacturer Jatco Ltd., expects higher sales of continuously variable transmissions (CVT) in 2009 despite the market meltdown. Ishida expects Jatco’s CVT sales to climb 3.1% to 1.7 million units in the fiscal year ending March 31 and to increase again next fiscal year. Jatco, which is 75% owned by Nissan Motor Co., has been able to expand to other continents due to demand for CVT technology. Jatco wants an additional 5 to 6% improvement in CVT fuel efficiency in the next three years by reducing friction within the belt box, said Ishida, who came to Jatco after 35 years at Nissan. Jatco has a newly expanded plant in Mexico, which supplies 700,000 CVTs to North American assembly plants. It has also opened a new CVT plant in Guangzhou, China, to supply CVTs to Dongfeng Motor Co., Nissan’s local partner in China. (February 23, 2009)