Future of Leyland MIT 'not clear'
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• Two months after the Leyland/Daf merger, it has been revealed that the deal does not include Leyland's much publicised Continuously Variable Transmission (CM 28 February). All "intellectual property rights" on the CVT, including its design, have been retained by the Rover Group with the result that the future prospects for CVT appearing in a Leyland Daf truck are now "not clear".
Leyland Daf is officially saying little on the CVT beyond confirming that development work is still being carried out at the Leyland Technical Centre. At the moment two trucks — the futuristic TX450 6x2 and a Leyland Freighter — are being tested with CVT.
The decision not to take the rights for CVT into the Leyland Daf organisation was clearly influenced by the fact that neither company produces its own gearboxes, or considers it part of its core business.
The future of CVT is expected to be reviewed shortly, although if Leyland Daf decides to proceed with it, trucks with CVT could be in full production before 1992.