Fallbrook Technologies Inc. (Fallbrook) announced that two former auto industry executives will join its previously announced Transportation Industry Advisory Board (TIAB). The two additional members are Neil Ressler, former Vice President for Research and Vehicle Technology and Chief Technology Officer for Ford Motor Company, and Rudolph A. Schlais Jr., Chairman of ASL Management Consulting Company (ASL) and former CEO of General Motors Asia Pacific.
Fallbrook’s NuVinci® continuously variable planetary (CVP) transmission technology is designed to improve system efficiency. One of its many applications is exemplified by Fallbrook’s NuVinci DeltaSeries™, which includes a line of continuously variable accessory drives and primary transmissions designed to increase fuel economy and vehicle performance.
The company’s TIAB consists of industry advisors who assist Fallbrook in evaluating product requirements as well as market and partner opportunities for NuVinci DeltaSeries products. Ressler and Schlais join previously announced members Pascal Henault, recently retired PSA Peugeot Citroen executive committee member, and David Cole, Chairman Emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research. Al Kammerer, a member of Fallbrook’s Board of Directors, who spent 34 years with Ford Motor Company before retiring in 2008 as product development director for Jaguar Land Rover, also serves as a TIAB advisor.
“I am looking forward to being part of the Fallbrook Advisory Board,” Ressler stated. “The NuVinci technology provides a simple, cost effective and easily manufactured system that enables driving selected accessories at different speeds relative to the engine. This added capability is likely to find many useful applications to address challenges facing the global automotive business.” Ressler had an extensive executive career with Ford Motor Company culminating as Vice President for Research and Vehicle Technology and Chief Technology Officer. He is presently involved with Ethanol Boosting Systems, which is developing a method to increase gasoline engine efficiency.
According to Schlais, “The NuVinci technology brings to the automotive and vehicle applications a continuously variable transmission that is small, light and affordable. It provides for new applications, including accessory drives and electric vehicles, where there was no system optimizing product before — an engineer’s dream. Being on the Advisory Board allows us to participate in guiding the application of this ‘revolutionary’ machine.” Schlais spent more than 42 years in various management roles at General Motors, capped by his role as president and CEO of General Motors Asia Pacific. Currently, he is Chairman of the Shanghai-based ASL Management and Consulting Company and a founding general partner and director of ASL Partners, a private equity fund focused on global Chinese manufacturing companies.
“The current international issues impacting the price of oil have further increased the pressure to find ways to improve fuel economy and the viability of alternative energy sources,” stated William G. Klehm III, Fallbrook’s Chairman and CEO. “We are supporting the value proposition of our NuVinci technology with independent research and validation. With its global composition, the TIAB will help us select the appropriate technical and business opportunities for our NuVinci technology, which can affordably improve system efficiency (such as fuel economy) affordably without necessarily sacrificing performance.”
About Fallbrook Technologies Inc.
Fallbrook’s NuVinci® continuously variable planetary (CVP) technology is designed to improve system efficiency. The technology is scalable and has broad application to machines using a transmission such as bicycles, electric vehicles, automobiles, agricultural equipment and wind turbines, among others. The technology can be manufactured at a relatively low cost globally with standard industrial materials and processes. The NuVinci technology offers companies the flexibility to design and produce next-generation products that are better tailored to their unique business, market and competitive requirements.
Fallbrook’s NuVinci DeltaSeries includes a line of continuously variable accessory drives and primary transmissions designed to increase fuel efficiency and vehicle performance. Fallbrook recently acquired the business of Hodyon, manufacturer of the Dynasys™ APU (auxiliary power unit) and is incorporating the NuVinci CVP transmission into the Dynasys design. The Company has also signed a joint venture agreement with Ningbo Shentong Group (Shentong), a Tier 1 automotive supplier to the Chinese automotive industry to develop and market Fallbrook’s NuVinci CVP transmissions for electric-powered passenger cars and light trucks in China and abroad. Additionally, Fallbrook launched the NuVinci N360™, the second generation of its award-winning continuously variable bicycle drivetrain, last summer.
Fallbrook has built an extensive portfolio of more than 400 patents and patent applications worldwide. Fallbrook intends to continue its research and development activities to enhance the performance and capabilities of the NuVinci technology.
For more information, visit www.fallbrooktech.com
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