Leyland to locally produce German gearbox

Ashok Leyland, the Hinduja group flagship, has signed a collaboration agreement with ZF of Germany, a global major in transmissions, to locally manufacture ZF's 9S109 (9-speed synchromesh) gearbox.

The exact plan, including the investment to be made, is yet to be firmed up, the company spokesman informed. "With this agreement we have secured our transmission technology to meet higher torque requirements of the future", said R Seshasayee, managing director.

The 9S109 gearbox offers the torque band required for Ashok Leyland's 180 hp 'H' series engine, the yet-to-be-introduced 210 hp version as also the 260 hp 'J' series engine.

Leyland has been locally manufacturing ZF products since 1981 at its Bandara plant in Nagpur. It started with manufacture of ZF 6.36 gearbox, then moved on to the 6.36/2 and 6S850 gearboxes in 1999 and 2001, respectively.

All these versions together cover over 90 per cent of the company's vehicle production.

Leading commercial vehicle manufacturers in Europe, Japan and Asia, currently use ZF's 9-speed transmissions with range change features.

The agreement also provides for making available to Ashok Leyland the manufacturing technology and process improvements for ZF's proposed successor to the 9S109 gearbox.