AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

Is Chrysler/Getrag DSG DOA?
Work Halted on Dual Clutch Transmission Site

For a couple years, Chrysler's pitch has been that its products will be more competitive when they get a new generation of V-6 engines, the Phoenix engine, and a new dual-clutch automatic transmission. Volkswagen/Audi already has a version of a dual-clutch transmission which was engineered with Borg Warner, the VW trans is called the DSG, and it's supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. I've written about it before here. In 2006 Chrysler announced a partnership with German transmission maker Getrag for a new dual clutch transmission to be built in a brand new Getrag plant in Tipton, Indiana, not far from Chrysler's transmission plants in Kokomo.

Now word comes from Tipton that work on the Getrag plant has been indefinitely halted. The site has been prepared, the foundation has be laid, and work on the main structure has started, but the plant won't meet its targeted 2009 start-date unless work resumes soon. Apparently, Getrag agreed to build the plant under assurances of a certain number of transmission orders at a certain price from Chrysler. With recent cutbacks in models and production schedules by Chrysler, Getrag no longer believes it has adequate assurances from Chrysler of enough orders to run the plant profitably. According to the Kokomo Tribune, Getrag officials will soon be meeting with Chrysler officials to work out their differences.

It wouldn't be the first time that a new transmission joint venture failed due to lagging demand. A few years ago, Ford had high hopes for a new CVT transmission that it developed with ZF. Together they built a new plant at Batavia, Ohio to build the transmission. The transmission actually did what it was supposed to do, it gave the Ford 500 and Ford Freestyle's 3.0 liter engine the performance of a 3.5 liter, with better fuel economy than a traditional transmission. Many customers didn't like the high-reving nature of the transmission, and production was cut back. Ford had to buy out its partner when orders weren't forthcoming, and last year, Ford shut down the factory completely as the new Taurus and Taurus X don't use the CVT transmission. In a recent Consumer Reports test, the new Taurus delivered inferior fuel economy as compared to the CVT equipped Five Hundred, yet the Taurus, with a bigger 3.5 liter engine and advanced 6-speed automatic transmission did not deliver a correspondingly higher increase in performance.

DRAFT