Revolutionary New 6-speed Automatic Transmission Introduced at Frankfurt Motor Show

ANTONOV UNVEILS 6-SPEED ANTONOV AUTOMATIC DRIVE
Antonov unveils today its newest automatic transmission, the 6-speed Antonov Automatic Drive (AAD). Radically compact, the new-generation AAD is designed to meet the demand for a 6-speed automatic suited to small- and medium-sized vehicles with transverse engines and front-wheel drive. (PRNewsFoto)[JL]
FRANKFURT DEU 09/11/2001

      New-generation AAD from Antonov Slashes Both Production Costs And
            Inefficiencies of Traditional Automatic Transmissions

    FRANKFURT, Germany, Sept. 11 Antonov unveils today its
newest automatic transmission, the 6-speed Antonov Automatic Drive (AAD).
Radically compact, the new-generation AAD is designed to meet the demand for a
6-speed automatic suited to small- and medium-sized vehicles with transverse
engines and front-wheel drive.
    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010911/LNTU003 )
    At 250 mm long -- less than 10 inches -- the new-generation AAD is shorter
than a 5-speed manual transmission.  Nevertheless it offers 6 forward speeds,
meeting the need for an automatic that combines excellent acceleration with a
fuel-saving high top gear.  Recently published industry opinion indicates that
the 6-speed automatic is expected to be the pre-eminent transmission of its
kind in the future.
    A breakthrough design by Roumen Antonov, the new-generation 6-speed AAD
makes an automatic drive economically feasible for small cars, where the bulk,
weight, cost and efficiency drawbacks of the traditional automatic
transmission have suppressed demand for automatics.
    As with all Antonov AAD designs, low cost is an inherent advantage.  An
independent estimate of the 6-speed AAD's production cost is US$675 per unit,
a large reduction compared with the US$1,000+ cost of the conventional 6-speed
automatic.
    Independent testing indicates that Antonov's 6-speed AAD is
environmentally friendly, achieving up to 30% fuel efficiency gains over
current production auto boxes.  Advanced control technologies allow full
adaptation to needed engine and car performance strategies.
Antonov achieves these benefits by eliminating the power-robbing high-pressure
hydraulic systems required by the conventional auto box, using naturally
occurring mechanical forces in the transmission to effect shifting.  This
enables a major simplification in the design of automatic transmissions to be
achieved while at the same time retaining the use of current manufacturing
plant for its production.
    The new-generation 6-speed AAD is attracting interest from several large
car and transmission manufacturers.  The transmission's concept is on display
at Frankfurt and a prototype embodying key aspects of its technology is being
completed at the Antonov technical facility near Paris.

    Antonov Automotive Technologies was formed in 1991 to exploit the
automatic-transmission concepts invented by Mr Roumen Antonov.  Antonov has
licensed its technology on a non-exclusive basis to two transmission makers
and production is scheduled to commence in 2004.  In August, Antonov announced
that a major Japanese car company, which has been working with Antonov's
technology for 8 years -- the last 4 years of which in designing, developing
and testing its own Antonov transmission -- shall take a licence decision
before the end of September this year.

    Antonov's stand at the Frankfurt Motor Show is in Hall 6.1, number B35
http://www.antonov-transmission.com