Reports and tips that General Motors has been working on a family of in-house eight-speed automatic transmissions have been circulating for years, but it seems that we may all finally see them as soon as next year. And it’s about time, because considering the competition, they’re overdue. However, the eight-speeds that will be built in-house reportedly still need more time to develop.
To borrow some allotment, Motor Trend reports on behalf of a source that GM has reached a short-term contract with Aisin to supply eight-speed transmission units for rear-wheel-drive vehicles. Think Cadillac ATS, new 2014 CTS, and even the new 2014 Corvette C7. We’ll throw the Chevy Camaro in there as well.
Aisin, which is partly owned by Toyota, currently manufactures two eight-speed automatic transmissions, with one capable of handling high-torque loads that are found in GM’s V8 engines. Motor Trend states that the supply deal will last approximately one year, where afterwards GM will begin utilizing its own eight-speeds.
It’s not exactly clear as to whether or not these Aisin eight-speeds will be used in GM’s all-new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra launching next year, or if the supplier will offer a transverse eight-speed model for use on front-wheel-drive based vehicles like the Cadillac XTS, Buick LaCrosse, and all-new 2014 Chevrolet Impala, among much more. Stay tuned with us as we continue to provide you with updates.
Meanwhile, GM and Ford continue their joint-development of nine and ten-speed transmissions for both front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive use. There are also plans for a seven-speed manual transmission, and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
At a time of year when luxury car ATP usually rises.
Sales decreased 5.6 percent to 16,670 units during the first ten months of 2024.
Specifically critical minerals supply chain development.
Scheduled for a Spring 2025 launch.
View Comments
Why not try putting that on a regal gs?
You know the Fat Lady is about to sing when GM starts outsourcing automatic transmissions.
Where is that long and proud history of the former Hydra-Matic Division? Supplier of automatic transmissions to Rolls Royce, Bentley, BMW and others. Now forced to buy from the Japanese.
A sad day indeed.
They've used Aisin trannys in the past, might as well use them here as a stopgap.
The last time GM used Aisin transmissions it was a TOTAL disaster. They put those stupid Aisin CVTs in the Saturn Vue and Ion and in no time flat they were failing left right and centre. They had to stop selling cars with those transmissions and drop in the trusty old 4T45 instead. I say stay with the Hydramatic 6 speeds until they can get their own 8 speed. I would never buy a vehicle with an Aisin transmission, GM or otherwise. My wife's Camry (Aisin U760E) has the worst programming I have ever seen, shifting into 4th gear when the S (manual) mode is selected, regardless of speed. Rubbish.
It's a new GM, let's see what they can do.
I can't wait for those 9, 10 speeds to get here.
I'll believe it when I see it. The 7-speed dual clutch has been supposedly coming for years now. Yeah, I recall the bankruptcy, but still the transmission seems to be nowhere in sight. All of those upcoming vehicles, and the ATS, can really use an 8-speed to be competitive, but not if it's as awful as Richard indicates. If GM does this, they need to be careful.
Hey Richard: Aisin made the five speed in Equinox and Torrent. I haven't found anything online that the 2003 Vue CVt was aisin. Care to prove it?
Indeed you're correct. My apologies. The 5 speed Aisin was used in some applications simultaneously with the GM CVT. Both were eventually replaced by the 4T45, the 5 speed for shift flare discomfort and the CVT for reliability. I humbly apologise for that error, but I maintain that GM should build their own 8 speed.
2003 - 2004 Saturn Ion's had optional CVT's too. Same problems as well.
The Regal turbo used an Asian 6-speed auto. There a trustworthy supplier and they are only using them for one year. So no, GM won't be relying on these guys and they will resort to producing their own 8 speeds. GM is not outsourcing. They need 8-speeds pronto and if they want to take their sweet time in developing their own in house 8 speed, that's awesome. This is a very smart move
I have a strong feeling that the first 8-speeds were supposed to debut with the launch of the ATS. GM engineers must have ran into several development kinks.
Matt's right. The Regal GS has an Aisin and I don't think I have heard of any problems with the unit. I suspect Manoli is also right that the 8-speed was to debut with the ATS. I bet some inside GM are not at all pleased with whatever caused the delay in development. It leaves me wondering if a year or so will even be long enough, and if maybe GM should just quit spending R&D money developing its own 8-speed, use the Aisin for a couple of years, and concentrate on speeding up development of the 9- and 10-speed units with Ford. Maybe that isn't possible. One thing's for sure, though, they need an 8-speed unit ASAP.
Interesting.....
The Saturn CVT was a GM design, and yes, it was a total disaster.