Land Rover will demonstrate the latest in a long line of technical firsts at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show with the announcement of the world's first nine-speed automatic transmission for a passenger car. Land Rover is the lead partner on the project, working together with ZF which is widely recognised as the world leader in transmission technology.

The ZF 9HP transmission is extremely robust and its lowest ratio in the gearbox is far lower than the existing six-speed transmission which in turn enhances off-road use, towing and more extreme on-road conditions like gradients and altitude, giving the driver a heightened sense of control.

Gear changes will be extremely fast and combined with the innovative adaptive shifting system, it is able to match the driver's mood within seconds.

It also has a Fast-Off mode which measures the rate of throttle release, anticipates further requests by the driver for high power, then holds the gear if necessary. If the driver requests a downshift when the vehicle is travelling too fast, the transmission will remember the request and make the shift when the speed drops to an appropriate level.