Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Volkswagen to Replace Automatics with DSG

Text from Leftlane News.
Volkswagen is planning to replace all its automatic transmissions in cars with transverse engine configurations with DSG transmissions, according to a published report. Product chief Wolfgang Bernhard said DSG will be used on transverse-engine cars from Audi, Skoda, Seat, and Volkswagen, reports The Car Connection. The company is also developing a way to implement DSG on longitudinal engine configurations. DSG is a dual-clutch gearbox that uses two computer-controlled clutches to achieve very fast and smooth shifts. Bernhard said VW has no plans to license the technology to any other companies. Instead, the automaker hopes it will be a “unique selling proposition” for VW Group vehicles. The Leftlane Perspective: VW might not sell DSG to any rivals, but we suspect shareholder and affiliate Porsche might get a piece of the action once DSG is ready for high-performance applications.