Ford & GM Partner On Next Gen Automatics
When the next generation of pickups, cars and SUVs roll out with 9- and 10-speed automatics, they will be a shared technology among the two largest U.S. vehicle manufacturers: Ford and GM.
Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. signed an agreement under which both companies will jointly develop an all-new generation of advanced technology transmissions.
The new transmissions, for both front- and rear-wheel drive vehicles, will improve performance and increase fuel economy.
The collaboration enables both automakers to design, develop, engineer, test, validate and deliver these new transmissions for their vehicles faster and at lower cost than if each company worked independently.
“Engineering teams from GM and Ford have already started initial design work on these new transmissions,” said Jim Lanzon, GM vice president of global transmission engineering.
“We expect these new transmissions to raise the standard of technology, performance and quality for our customers while helping drive fuel economy improvements into both companies’ future product portfolios.”
This new agreement marks the third time in the past decade that GM and Ford have partnered on transmissions with the latest crop of 6-speed automatics being the most recent joint effort.
“The goal is to keep hardware identical in the Ford and GM transmissions. This will maximize parts commonality and give both companies economy of scale,” said Craig Renneker, Ford’s Chief Engineer, Transmission & Driveline Component & Pre-Program Engineering.
“However, we will each use our own control software to ensure that each transmission is carefully matched to the individual brand-specific vehicle DNA for each company.”
