German Car Forum

Mercedes-Benz might dump its transmissions




Unlike many carmakers, Mercedes-Benz has traditionally built its own transmissions . It has even supplied them to others, such the slushbox that they sold to Porsche for the 928. Economic realities could soon cause that to change, as the team from soon-to-be Daimler AG investigates outsourcing transmission production to other companies. Mercedes wants transmissions that will help the fuel efficiency of their next generation A, B, and C-Classes, such as eight-speed dual clutch units. Rather than spend the resources developing its own. it might just purchase such a unit from a company like Getrag or ZF, according to a report in Auto Motor und Sport.

Dual Clutch box for the C-class!?!?!?!?!?! I'm sold!!!

Hopefully not true. Merc's autos are the best in the biz even if they are now lacking an extra gear. I'm all for them outsourcing performance transmissions though.

Mercedes Benz seeks 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox
Posted on Thursday 30 August 2007





Mercedes is considering outsourcing production of transmissions for its next-gen A, B and C-class models, which could also lead to the closure of its current transmission plant in Zuffenhausen, Germany. The decision is said to be backed by CEO Dieter Zetsche, who considers the development of new transmissions as non-core to Mercedes. By outsourcing the development and manufacturing process to an outside supplier, engineers could potentially reduce costs and improvement innovation, a Mercedes insider revealed to Auto Motor und Sport.


According to the source, Mercedes is also seeking a supplier for a new eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox, giving it an edge over both Lexus and BMW who both plan to rely on fully-automatic eight-speed transmissions. A dual-clutch gearbox is better in both fuel-consumption and straight-line speed when compared with conventional autos. Mercedes is hoping that either Getrag or ZF develops and manufactures the new gearbox as designing the box itself would be too costly for the carmaker.

I hope this doesn't happen. Like the article said, it's a Mercedes Tradition, the building of their own transmissions and having others build them for you is a mistake in my opinion, despite the high development costs these incur. I guess I personally want to see MB continue their tradition and make their own transmissions. Besides, they can always outsource or sell their transmissions to other brands, as they have in the past. It's a great business opportunity as well. There is money to be made here.

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^ Semi-automatics (be they sequentials, duals or a combination) rock.
Autos and manuals are dead meat.

Never!

hmm..i dont like this..
okay if they go outside MB for this ONE gearbox..but they should not end production all togehter..

I agree, one gearbox here or there that are outside their norm is ok. A 8-speed DSG gearbox or something of the like is ok, but regular automatics must stay in-house.

M

Should we take this as a sign of Mercedes financial concerns -- that merger with BMW really does not seem far fetched to me.

I agree one or two gearboxes is fine but to stop would be insane...maybe they should get zf or anyone else to supply the manuals bec the autos are superb

In a way yes, but not in a panic type sense. It makes perfect sense for them to outsource the fancy/trendy type gearboxes due to cost. Everyone else does. Long as they keep the automatics in-house.

M

I would be happy if this was for BMW so I dont understand why people here complain?

A company that defines its self as "engineered like no other" using autos that are also found in lets say a Cadillac...I think I can stop there...

^Excatly,the automatics are just superb better than anyother,i hope they keep those in-house!

Tradition just for the sake of tradition is folklore. MB transmissions, while often deemed the best, have just as often perceived as lacking. Should they find a company whose bread and butter is developing transmissions, everything would be great. Getrag is preparing DCT for BMW, so it is a good prospect.

Interesting that BMW plans on sourcing it's Dual Clutch units from Getrag.

One thing you guys have to understand, is that even though transmissions may be outsourced from different companies, they're not entirely unadaptable to further programming in an effort to deliver trademark qualities of one brand or another. A 6spd auto in a 3er is not the same as a 6 spd auto in a Caddy CTS. Don't get it twisted.

Mercedes automatics are rated as some of the best in the business. There's nothing lacking with them here. I've driven tons of A/T Benzes and I've always been impressed with their automatics. Even the 4-speed automatic on my '85 300SE feels smooth and still "modern" if you know what I mean.

Mercedes manual transmissions on the other hand have always been terrible. These are the transmissions that should be built by other companies, like Getrag or ZF, and then sold to Mercedes for then you'll have quality manual transmissions.

Could t agree more than what cawimmer says...


the autos are superb i have about 3 123 mercs which are ato which my staff drive i drove the 230e last week,,,i was driving it 180km/h and the gearchanges were good the car has 400000km on it and i think it changes smoother then some current chrysler autos.....


on the other hand the manuals are sorry to say poor poor ...........

havent driven a new c in maual but i heard its a huge improvement ...

The recent Mercedes' manuals are a huge improvement, but they're still terrible when compared to the manuals offered by the competition. My own ex-1992 Mitsubishi Galant GTI has a manual transmission that could put the newer and "improved" Mercedes' manuals to shame.

Getrag will also makes DCTs for Chrysler in a new plant to be built in Indiana:

More Getrag info.


Stefan Rinderknecht, Getrag chief engineer



DCTs can be hybridized with one or two electric motors.

Well at least one of those versions can handle any top-end V8 or V8 AMG Mercedes, the DCT 477. The DCT 436 can handle other Benzes like the SLK55, C63 etc.

M