DOING IT AGAIN-THIS TIME WITH 10

After a successful decade-long collaboration on 6-speed transaxles, Ford and GM partner again on an all-new 10-speed automatic. Here's a look inside the gearbox and the project.

Almost exactly a decade after Ford and General Motors initiated production of 6-speed planetary-gear automatics derived from the two companies' first-ever transmission-development collaboration, the Detroit behemoths are at it again. In the coming months, each company will launch a specialty model showcasing an all-new 10-speed automatic that is ultimately earmarked for some of the respective companies' highest-volume products: full-size pickup trucks.

The new 10-speed automatic is the result of a four-year joint development program first confirmed in 2013 (see http://articles.sae.org/12015/). It is intended primarily for rear-drive or four-wheel-drive vehicles with longitudinally-mounted engines (see sidebar). The two companies' engineering teams concurrently developed a 9-speed automatic transaxle for front- or all-wheel-drive models with transversely-mounted engines; applications for that transmission have yet to be announced.