Wang Shuhan, dean of Shengrui Transmission Corp's Engineering Research Institute, helped the company put the world's first frontengine, front-drive 8AT automatic transmission into mass production after overcoming many challenges.

The company introduced two 8AT models in 2011 and 2015, a frontengine, front-drive 8AT and a frontengine, front-drive plug-in hybrid 8AT. The former is standard on Landwind's SUV X7. This year, demand for the 8AT is expected to reach 100,000 units.

Mass production of the frontengine, front-drive plug-in hybrid 8AT, when it happens, will keep Shengrui at the forefront of technology in the industry.

In 2009, Wang joined the company, two years after Shengrui began developing the 8AT.

He said many in the auto parts industry had little faith that Shengrui, as a private company, could make a technological breakthrough when it first began developing the transmission in 2007.

Wang visited Germany and the United Kingdom on numerous occasions to learn more about how to develop an 8AT. He teamed with Peter Tenberge from the Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany to develop the technology.

In February 2010, the first 8AT prototype was rolled out. Businesses at the time were not enthusiastic about the newly developed 8AT because it was difficult to put the prototype into mass production.

Wang said the first 8AT, at 80 kilograms, had more than 400 components, some of which could not be produced by domestic suppliers. He said he visited many auto parts suppliers in China to persuade them to produce parts for Shengrui.

He added that his research development team of eight had to test different transmission designs to ensure that the vehicles using them could achieve maximum performance.

"Foreign brands have been unable to make breakthroughs in the 8AT because they cannot get the best structure to guarantee the best driving performance," Wang said.

He said Shengrui has spent 800 million yuan ($123.7 million) to develop the 8AT between 2007 and 2015.

"Shengrui has finally been rewarded for our huge investment," Wang said.

Wang said Shengrui's breakthroughs in the development of the 8AT would alter the market landscape and relax domestic automakers' dependence on foreign brands.

Before Shengrui introduced the 8AT, the Chinese transmission market was dominated by foreign developers equipped with core technologies. The foreign companies set high prices for their products in the Chinese market. Wang said prices in China are nearly double or triple those for the same products in overseas markets.

Shengrui's achievements will also support the development of auto parts suppliers in China. Earlier this year, the Shandong government granted Wang the title of "Taishan Industrial Leader" to honor his special contributions to the 8AT development.

"Shengrui can compete with rivals in Europe and the United States in the automatic transmission sector with its newly developed 8AT," Wang said.

By the end of 2015, the team employed more than 200 professionals from around the world. It is one of the top teams in automatic transmission development in China, Wang said. Shengrui has accelerated the development of the 8AT with support from global talent, helping the 8AT with a start-stop function to be put into mass production.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), Shengrui plans to build an automatic transmission component manufacturing park in the Weifang High-tech Development Zone to attract its core parts suppliers to the area. The plan will help the company increase production of its 8AT.

Shengrui said there would be a massive automatic transmission industry cluster in Weifang.

Expansion plan

In recent months, the development zone has also helped advance the manufacturing park construction project. The zone said it would build production space so parts suppliers only need to install production facilities in the factories. That initiative would allow Shengrui to advance its expansion plan in an effective and efficient manner.

Wang said Shengrui would be capable of producing 450,000 8AT units by the end of 2017, including 150,000 hybrid 8ATs. The company expects to be at least 20 years ahead of its competitors in the transmission development area.

The company said it plans to expand its talent pool to support its product upgrades and business expansion in the coming years. Wang said Shengrui expects to have a development team with more than 400 engineers by 2017. Among those, more than 10 are expected to be doctorate degree holders.

Wang said the professional recruitment plan would be achieved ahead of time, because the zone released three documents that support talent recruitment and retainment in the past few months, which he said would attract more skilled employees.

Zhuang Wenshi contributed to this story.

Wang shuhan, dean of Shengrui Transmission Corp's Engineering Research Institute, tests a component at the company.