Due to the staggering costs involved, General Motors and Ford are planning to develop and
build a six-speed automatic transmission together.
The companies will share costs of $720
million to bring the new transmission to market. Compared to the present four-speed
automatics, a six-speed will improve mileage in larger cars, light trucks and SUVs to meet
future Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations.
Chrysler already has a six-speed
automatic transmission available that was developed by partner Daimler, although it hasn’t
installed a six-speed automatic into any of its vehicles yet.