Ford Will Speed Adoption of 6-Speed Transmissions as It Seeks 30% GHG Reduction by 2020

Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday that it plans to double by the end of next year the number of fuel-saving six-speed automatic transmissions it is putting in its vehicles.

The new front-wheel-drive 6-speed transmission offers 4 percent to 6 percent better fuel economy, improved acceleration and smoother shifting than four- and five-speed automatics, Ford said in a statement on its website.

The Dearborn-based automaker said the new transmissions will debut early next year in the 2009-model Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner crossover SUVs, their sibling '09 Mazda Tribute, and two unidentified vehicles...

Ford said it plans to use the advanced transmission, which will be made at its Sterling Heights, Mich., plant, in 98 percent of its North American vehicles by 2012.

Ford Vice President Barb Samardzich, head of the company's North American transmission operations, said the new transmissions are key to Ford's plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions form its vehicles by 30 percent by 2020.

The announcement comes five months after Ford unveiled a direct-injection technology it calls EcoBoost that will enable the gasoline-powered cars and trucks that use it to deliver up to 20 percent better fuel economy with 15 percent fewer carbon-dioxide emissions than versions equipped with standard fuel-injected engines of similar output.

Scott Doggett, Contributor

Posted by

John O'Dell May 7, 2008, 4:54 PM

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Emissions, Ford, Fuel Economy