Koreans developing 10-speed auto

HYUNDAI is staking its claim to be taken seriously in the luxury car world by developing a new 10-speed transmission for its next-generation saloons.

Seeking to become the first car-maker to offer 10 speeds, Hyundai is reportedly planning to introduce the new transmission in 2014 on its Genesis and Equus luxury four-door sedans.

Just this year, Hyundai unveiled its first eight-speed automatic – which the company developed in-house in Korea – in the updated 2012-model US Genesis (February) and Equus (June) sedans, neither of which is sold in Australia.

Hyundai claimed this was the first time a non-luxury brand had offered an eight-speed auto.

Combined with a tweaked 3.8-litre V6 engine, the eight-speeder provided a five per cent improvement in fuel consumption and emissions over the previous six-speed unit, as well as improved shift times and performance.

Lexus was the first car-maker to offer an eight-speed automatic, upping the ante on Mercedes’ long-running seven-speeder from early 2007 on its flagship LS460, which was introduced in Australia in April of the same year.

Within months of the Lexus debut, German transmission specialist ZF revealed its own eight-speed auto, which was quickly picked up by Audi (on its A5, A6, A7 and A8 models) and has subsequently been fitted to a range of Bentley, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Jaguar, Lancia, Land Rover and Rolls Royce models.

Hyundai Motor Group president Park Seong Hyon was quoted by Bloomberg News as saying that the company was developing the 10-speed transmission for use by both of its car-making subsidiaries, Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp.