Drivetrain Systems International was formed following the purchase of the Lavington gearbox factory, built in 1971, from the ION Group in 2004. In 2007, the factory produced gearboxes for
SsangYong, which became the DSI's largest customer following the cessation of
Ford's patronage in 2011.[6]
In 2009, the company entered
bankruptcy protection, mostly due to the bankruptcy and halt of production of its main customer, SsangYong. An effect of this was the loss of 230 jobs at the
Albury facilities, with 167 jobs remaining. The workers were eligible for the
Australian Government's General Employees Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme.[7] The same year, the company was purchased by Chinese car manufacturer
Geely for over A$55 million.[6]
Gearboxes designed by Drivetrain Systems International were manufactured in Geely factories in
Hunan,
Shandong and
Chongqing.[6]
Geely subsequently sold DSI to Chinese investment company Shuanglin in 2015 [8] who continue to manufacture the DSI designed products in
Xiangtan,
Jining and
Ninghai.[9]
In 2020, DSI's Australian operations relocated to a new facility in Scoresby to provide engineering services both within and outside of the automotive field.[2]
Transmissions
3-speed automatic
The company provided
Ford Australia with three-speed automatic transmissions for rear-wheel drive (longitudinal engine) applications.
The company provided Ford Australia, and later
SsangYong Motor, with four-speed automatic transmissions for rear-wheel-drive (longitudinal engine) applications.
The M85LE first appeared in the 1989
Ford Falcon (EA II) and
Ford Fairlane/LTD (NA/DA), and was progressively updated to the M91LE (1992) and M93LE (1994) in the Australian large Ford range. V8 versions of the Falcon, when released in 1992 used a revised version of the transmission, the M95LE, updated as the M97LE in 1994. The final applications used by Ford (for the M93LE) were the
BF III Falcon wagon (2010),
FG Falcon LPG (2010), and rear-wheel-drive
SY II Territory (2011).
The SsangYong models used the M74LE version of the transmission.