Global Viewpoints North America A powerful mix

Traditional and not-so-traditional power sources will share the roads in North America as OEMs and suppliers continue to research and develop a variety of advanced propulsion technologies.

Improving fuel economy and reducing emissions to meet more stringent regulations, while maintaining and even improving upon performance levels North American consumers have come to expect from their cars, trucks, and SUVs, are leading automakers and suppliers to innovate in all areas of the vehicle-and the powertrain is no exception. There is certainly no shortage of powerplant and transmission technologies vying for market share to help industry achieve its challenging goals.

“Having been in the auto industry a number of years, it's amazing to me how many degrees of freedom we now have in the powertrain area, particularly [with] the drivetrain and transmission,” said Floyd Allen, Vice President of the Chrysler Group's Powertrain Product Team. “There are probably half a dozen reasonable candidates for future transmissions, and that's almost unheard of. Each one of those [involves] a very significant amount of technological engineering work to bring them to market, and yet the absolute winner isn't real clear.”