Volkswagen planning a 10-speed DSG

In a recent announcement at the annual Vienna motor symposium in Austria, Volkswagen development boss Hans-Jakob Neusser announced that they are developing a new 10-speed DSG for its future vehicles. The German automotive giant first hinted that it is developing such an autobox last year at the same event. They plan to use it in both transverse as well as longitudinal engines, suggesting that it will be used in a range of models. 

The development of the 10-speed DSG is with the primary intention of increasing the efficiency of their future models up to nearly 15 per cent by the year 2020. The Volkswagen official confirmed that the new gearbox, that is to be the successor to the current six-speed DSG, will be developed to handle torque of up to 500Nm. Introducing new gearboxes with increased number of gears seems to be manufacturers’ preferred way of enhancing efficiency and reducing emission. Aside from Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Land Rover have already announced their plans of bringing in a nine-speed gearbox.

Aside its plans to develop the new gearbox, the German car maker also confirmed a new 2.0-litre twin-turbocharged oil burner. Also announced at last year’s symposium, this diesel powerplant produces 239PS of power and is likely to replace the current 2.0-litre unit that we see in a range of cars starting from the Jetta to the Audi A4.  Labeled TDI, the new engine will first be seen in the next generation version Passat that is scheduled to be introduced later this year.