This is the link to Jatco's press release for this transmission from last year:
JATCO newly develops the JR913E 9-speed AT for RWD vehicles. It looks like it was initially put in the Titan and they've expanded it to other cars. I suspect this will continue.
In many ways, the CVT is an innovative design but I think this is a sign that its days are numbered. Designing new transmissions isn't cheap and Jatco wouldn't have done it just for a handful of new cars. There seem to be two major problems with the CVT that I see over the long term:
1. I think Nissan has concluded that the CVT has set a cap on the power output of the engine it's mated to and that ceiling appears to be in the neighborhood of 260 hp. It should be noted that the very first Nissan Murano had 245 hp
18 years ago? The VQ35DE is absolutely capable of putting out north of 300 hp (e.g. see the 370Z). Given that competitors are putting out V6 engines nearing 300 hp (some even have turbo 4 cylinders exceeding the Nissan V6), this will just become more of a problem as time goes by. Also, things like the low tow rating suggest that Nissan is not confident that the CVT can handle extra stress. If you read the reviews of the auto magazines, they'll say something like the Murano's performance is "pedestrian" but it's nice on long trips. Cosmetic enhancements and makeovers will only go so far...
2. Lawsuits, Lawsuits, lawsuits... Anyone who has been on these forums long enough can agree that earlier generations of the CVT had design flaws and Nissan has paid dearly for them in litigation. I blame Nissan management for that because they didn't do enough to push Jatco to fix the problems with the CVT soon enough (it took what, 10 years?) and they basically tried to sweep the problems under the rug and literally forced their customers to bring them to court to make things right. Nissan is still getting sued over the CVT and this has not only cost them a lot of money, it's also created a PR nightmare. The CVT (and Nissan) has a "reputation" now, and it isn't a good one.
I don't blame Nissan if they're now in the midst of trying to abandon the CVT, especially since they're under new management and the company is struggling to get out from under the shadow of the Carlos Ghosn years. Nissan may have made the calculation that they need something else to bridge the transition from gas to electric and perhaps this new 9-speed is it.
