The largest investment in the U.S. since the new Company was formed in June 2009 was aided by the approval of a tax abatement from the city of Kokomo. The investment will fund the installation of equipment and special tooling to modernize Indiana Transmission Plant I and the Kokomo Casting Plant. The project will extend the life of both manufacturing facilities and help retain nearly 1,200 jobs.

Chrysler Group has licensed the manufacturing rights from Friedrichshafen, Germany-based ZF Group to build the new eight-speed beginning in 2013. After working with ZF, Chrysler Group Powertrain engineers benchmarked the industry's leading automatic transmissions and set functional goals as they designed the new eight speed. The seamlessly shifting, eight-speed transmission is more sophisticated than traditional five- or six-speed gearboxes. Included in this agreement is the purchase of transmissions manufactured by ZF.

”The new eight-speed transmission that we’ll be producing in Kokomo will transform our future product line, but equally important, ensures the future viability of our Kokomo facilities and our dedicated workforce,” said Scott Garberding, Senior Vice President and Head of Manufacturing, Chrysler Group LLC. “The support demonstrated by General Holiefield, Vice President and Director of the UAW Chrysler Department, and the entire UAW for World Class Manufacturing is one of the primary reasons we continue to make significant investments in our Indiana facilities.”

“In addition, the State of Indiana and Governor Mitch Daniels, the City of Kokomo and Mayor Greg Goodnight as well as Congressman Joe Donnelly, Congressman Dan Burton and the rest of the Indiana Congressional delegation have been valued partners as Chrysler Group works to bring the most technologically advanced and fuel efficient vehicles to market. This investment would not be possible without their continued support,” said Garberding.

"It's heartening to see the local unions and employees in Indiana embrace the principles of WCM and, as a result, see the company continue to make significant investments in both new technology and the Kokomo facilities,” said General Holiefield, Vice President and Director of the UAW Chrysler Department. “This action will give Chrysler a head-start on a new transmission and will help secure the future for Chrysler UAW-represented employees."

“The new eight-speed automatic transmission will offer our customers refinement and comfort while achieving greater fuel economy and performance,” said Paolo Ferrero, Senior Vice President—Powertrain, Chrysler Group. “We look forward to integrating the new transmission into future Chrysler Group products and welcome its contribution to a corporate fuel economy improvement of more than 25 percent by 2014.” Ferrero explained that more and better-designed gears help the engine run at a more efficient RPM, which contributes to fuel economy and reduced emissions. “This is a totally redesigned transmission,” Ferrero said. “All of the fuel economy (improvements) of this transmission come from better design of internal components and a wide-spread gear ratio that allows the engine to run at lower RPMs.” Chrysler's engineers benchmarked the industry's leading automatic transmissions to set functional goals. After working closely with ZF, the result is a seamless shifting eight-speed transmission without sacrifice. Specific product information and timing for the new transmission will come at a later date.

Earlier this month, Chrysler Group announced that it would invest $43 million in new equipment and tooling to expand its operations in Kokomo to support production of the World Engine and improve processes for the 62TE transmission program. In December 2009, the Company announced that it would invest $179 million in its Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance (GEMA) plant in Dundee, Mich., to produce the 1.4-liter, 16-valve Fully Integrated Robotized Engine (FIRE). In May 2007, Chrysler announced a $730 million investment in the Pentastar V-6 engine program, which began production at the all-new Trenton (Mich.) Engine Plant in March 2010—bringing the total powertrain investment to nearly $1.3 billion since 2007.

ItaliaspeedTV - Paolo Ferrero Senio Vice President Chrysler Powertrain on future 8-speed ZF automatic gearbox