News Article

GKN Driveline and ZF Torque Vectoring cooperation CTI Symposium, Berlin

Berlin, Germany 4th December 2007
GKN Driveline and ZF announce an extended cooperation in the field of torque vectoring systems. The cooperation agreement covers the joint development, manufacturing and marketing of torque vectoring systems in rear axles for rear and all wheel driven vehicles.

Key technical content of this collaboration is the integration of mechanical and electrical components and the development of the corresponding software.

Mechanically this agreement includes two torque vectoring units flanged to the final drive, and two electric motors which drive the brakes to operate the torque vectoring units. The motors are controlled by a central ECU. The software, which communicates with the vehicle controller, ensures that the vectoring torque requirements dependant on the driving condition of the vehicle are realised by the system.

The first production application is planned for BMW, already announced as being ZF's VectorDrive. The Torque Vectoring hardware units produced by GKN Driveline will be supplied to system leader ZF, who is responsible for the final assembly of the system and the supply of the electric motors, the control ECU and programming, and the delivery of the EOL-tested units to the customer.

"The joint development is a significant step forward that allows us to bring the specific competences and know-how of our two companies together, develop cutting edge, high performance driveline technology and make it available to our customers as broadly and competitively as we can," said Graeme Walford, Managing Director of GKN Driveline Torque Technology.

Commenting on the announcement, Robert Paton, Managing Director for ZF's Axle Drive Division said: "We have an attractive 'modular' system concept that is ready for application and specific development with the OEMs. BMW will be the first, but we have already begun talking to other customers and are excited by the prospects for this cooperation technology. "

GKN Driveline's presentation during the Solution Forum will focus on development experiences with this concept. The system will be presented at the GKN Driveline stand on the CTI transmission expo (booth 51).

Editor’s notes:

GKN Driveline is a global enterprise with 21,000 people working at 40 locations in 30 countries. The company recorded sales of €3 billion in 2006. Recognised as the auto industry’s leader in the design and production of driveline components, GKN Driveline provides driveline solutions for the smallest front-wheel-drive vehicles up to the most sophisticated four-wheel-drive models. The company has a commanding share of the global market for CVJ (constant velocity joint) sideshafts.

GKN Driveline Torque Technology is a world leader in the supply of torque management devices for coupling, axle and transmission applications. The new Torque Vectoring device is specifically targeted at rear axle application on premium RWD and AWD passenger cars and SUVs and further strengthens GKN Driveline's product range in this segment, which includes an electronically controlled limited slip differential (ETM®), Electronic Locking Differential and a range of passive limited slip differentials.

Company contact

Paul Dinwiddy
Global Communication Director
GKN Driveline Headquarters
Tel: + 44 1527 533 646
M: + 44 7801 077 523
E-mail paul.dinwiddy@gkndriveline.com

Media Contacts

Americas
Larry Weis
AutoCom Associates
Tel: + 1 248 647 8621
C: + 1 248 705 4448
E-mail: lweis@usautocom.com

Europe
Simon Pearson
Tel: + 44 207 861 3158
M: + 44 7836 744 192
E-mail: simon@s-pearson.com

Japan
Yoshinori Yamaguchi
Inoue Public Relations
Tel: + 81 03 5269 2301
M : +81 90 4623 9671
E-mail: yamaguchi@inoue-pr.com

ZF is a leading worldwide automotive supplier for Driveline and Chassis Technology with approximately 55,000 employees at 120 locations in 25 countries. In order to continue to be successful with innovative products, ZF annually invests five percent of its sales in Research & Development (2006: Euro 11.7 billion).

Further information is available at www.zf.com