Ford and GM To Collaborate on 8, 9 and 10-Speed Transmissions

Ford and General Motors are expected to announce a new agreement that sees the two automakers collaborating on a range of new transmissions, next month.

2013_Chevy_Malibu_Transmission
Ford and General Motors are expected to announce a new agreement that sees the two automakers collaborating on a range of new transmissions, next month. The new agreement will give Ford and GM the ability to study and share designs on future transmissions, which will save the automakers billions.
According to Skip Nydam, who tracks transmission developments for ND-Automotive, an industry analyst firm, if the two automakers jointly develop the future transmissions, “it would have huge manufacturing cost and volume advantages over all the competition.”

This isn’t the first time that Ford and GM have collaborated on transmissions. Back in 2002 the two automakersagreed to share design and production of a new 6-speed automatic for front-drive vehicles, which resulted in the Ford 6F and G.M. 6T70 transmissions, introduced in 2006.

“The biggest benefit in G.M. and Ford working together is it reduces their investment risk,” said David Petrovski, a powertrain analyst at IHS Automotive. “It’s just not economically feasible for them to separately chase after every new fuel-efficiency technology under the sun. By collaborating, they’re able to use the best engineering concepts from both sides.”

New York Times