Eaton and Shaanxi Fast Gear (SFGW) have formed a joint venture to develop, manufacture, sell and service light-duty manual transmissions in Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and Africa.

SFGW is the largest transmission manufacturer in China. It is headquartered in Xi’an, China, and owns a 51 percent interest in the new joint venture. Eaton, a leader in the North American heavy-duty commercial vehicle transmission market and the light- and medium-duty segments in Brazil and other South American markets, owns a 49 percent interest.

“We are pleased to commence our new joint venture with SFGW, which will leverage the expertise of both partners to manufacture industry leading light-duty transmissions,” said João Faria, president, Eaton’s Vehicle Group. “Our partnership with SFGW brings our transmission designs to the large and fast-growing light-duty truck market in China and other rapidly growing markets.”

According to Faria, Eaton and SFGW formed another joint venture in 2014 for the sale of clutch products in China, which has achieved considerable growth over the past few years.

“Eaton expects to build on this success with the new joint venture in the light-duty manual transmission space,” he added.

The joint venture will be based in the High Tech Zone of Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, China.