Nissan makes strong move towards CVTs

Looks like all that "shift_" marketing will need to come to an end at Nissan, as the automaker prepares to unleash a large number of vehicles in the US and worldwide with CVT transmissions. The gearbox is already offered in numerous vehicles elsewhere in the world, but the Murano (pictured right) is one of only a few vehicles offered with a CVT in the US at this time. That will soon change, with up to 40% of Nissan's sales projected to include a CVT, with some of that increase coming from the new Altima hybrid. Nissan's transmission joint venture JATCO will be supplying many of the gearboxes from its new plant in Mexico, and will also supply the new transmissions to DCX as well. You'll recall that Ford made a huge investment to start CVT production at the Batavia plant earlier this year, so there's obviously a bit of momentum in this direction. How CVTs perform in the marketplace against multispeed stepped gearboxes remains to be seen, but it's nice to see the choice offered to consumers.