Mercedes could soon expand its range of transmissions with a new 8-speed ‘box to slot between its existing 7 G-Tronic and 9 G-Tronic units.
Auto Guide has learned that on August 10, 2017, the German car manufacturer made a patent application for the name ‘8 G-Tronic’ to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for use with “automobiles and parts thereof.”
At such an early stage, it is hard to say why Mercedes has patented ‘8 G-Tronic’ but there are two possible explanations. First, it plans to introduce a new transmission or second, it simply wants to protect the name.
The first of those two may be the most likely. While there is nothing wrong with the firm’s current seven-speed transmission, Mercedes has made the 9 G-Tronic standard on many of its newer models, rendering the seven-speed somewhat redundant. It is therefore possible Mercedes may look to replace the 7G with the 8G and use it across an array of vehicles, including AMG-branded cars. Alternatively, the 7G could stick around for a few more years alongside the 8G and 9G.
Furthermore, both BMW and Audi offer a selection of their vehicles with ZF’s 8-speed gearbox and Mercedes may think it needs to offer its own.
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