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MOTORINDIA
l
June 2012
45
which is developed for lower pow-
ered vehicles with low horse-power,
like those in India and other emerg-
ing markets. The Indian market
will develop soon, especially using
AMTs to move towards automat-
ics. Though we are not the cheap-
est in terms of cost, we look to sell
through our performance and focus
on life-cycle cost.”
According to Dr. Störk,
multi-speed automatics with
primary retarders would be
the best choice for BRTs. For
feeder buses, the company
suggests AMTs such as the
ZF AS Tronic Lite to be a
good alternative to manual or
heavy AMTs, which on the
other hand, would be the right
choice for coaches.
About two decades ago, in
South America, automatic
transmissions were almost un-
heard of, but now the situation
has changed with ZF being
able to penetrate the market
mainly due to product ben-
efits. The company is confident that
the same would be the case with In-
dia. However, for the change to hap-
pen, the standard of infrastructure
and the performance of buses should
improve in the country.
ZF automatic transmissions come
with a primary retarder which offers
better performance in low-speed
city-bus applications. The company
is also a pioneer in producing pow-
er-shift transmissions for passenger
cars, which is being reproduced for
buses, since buses are also involved
with transporting passengers. In au-
tomatic transmissions, ZF is indeed
a leader with a 52 per cent market-
share in buses worldwide.
w
component zone
One main advantage with
ZF is that it has all the
transmission
technolo-
gies – automatics, AMTs
and manual – in its port-
folio, offering its custom-
ers the entire range to
choose from. In addition,
the company’s technical
expertise enables it to
recommend the type of
transmission which would
be most suitable for a
particular application.