Proton’s chief technical officer Abdul Rashid Musa has confirmed to paultan.org that the national carmaker’s new torque converter CVT – to be matched to the company’s upcoming new direct-injected engines, replacing the current start-up clutch units – will not be supplied by Punch Powertrains, but by another transmission maker.
Rashid said that although the Belgian-based company is already developing its own torque converter CVT, it won’t be ready in time to be mated to the new engines, so Proton had to look elsewhere.
“We discussed with them, I told them to bring [the transmission’s development] forward from their schedule, but they said they couldn’t,” he said. “That’s why we need to go to somebody else. They have their own plans, I have to respect that, but unfortunately their timing is a bit different from ours.”
Nevertheless, he commended Punch Powertrains for being a good partner over the years, and he says the company could revert to Punch transmissions once they are ready.
Although Rashid declined to name the supplier of the new transmissions, rumours suggest that they may come from Jatco – the Nissan-owned CVT expert erected its own booth at the Alami Proton open day, so the signs are definitely pointing in that direction.
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