Transmission uses advanced materials to save weight

Ford has announced that the F-150 will take the second-generation 3.5-litre Ecoboost V-6 engine, mated to its new 10-speed automatic transmission, for the 2017 model year. Although horsepower and fuel economy ratings have not been disclosed, the new engine's torque increases to a best-in-class 450 lb/ft – whether gasoline (petrol) or diesel units. The engine gets dual-fuel injection systems, using both dual-direct and port fuel-injection systems, with two injectors per cylinder for improved power output, efficiency and emissions, Ford powertrain engineers told IHS and media at an event in Dearborn, Michigan. GM will offer the new 10-speed automatic transmission in eight models by 2018, with the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sports coupe being the first model to adopt the technology.     

The engine is mated to an all-new 10-speed automatic transmission, which Ford and General Motors (GM) developed together, although Ford is building it for its own applications and putting into production first. The transmission uses advanced materials to save weight, and is Ford's first transmission to not use any cast-iron components. Ford promises a smarter shift logic, including real-time adaptive shift-scheduling algorithms. Instead of adjusting to driving inputs over a period of time, the logic monitors more than a dozen powertrain and driver-control signals to get the right gear at the right time.

Ford's V-6 programme is of significance for the F-150 as it helps to improve emissions and fuel economy figures, and Ford also noted that about 60% of F-150 sales in 2016 were of the 2.7-litre or 3.6-litre Ecoboost V6 engine options. The 10-speed automatic transmission had already been announced for the Ford Raptor performance variant, although these vehicles will not come on the market until the third quarter of 2016. The company also announced investments in its Cleveland engine plant and its Livonia transmission plant to support production of the new V-6 and the new automatic transmission.

The overall trend is that the industry is moving towards automatic transmissions use even in areas with traditionally high use of manual transmissions, such as Europe. OEMs chasing down emissions and fuel economy targets are only too aware of the impact automatic transmissions will have in achieving these goals. Competition for this growth is already underway, with a number of recent investments by transmissions suppliers of automatic transmissions. ZF Friedrichshafen has started production of its 9-speed automatic transmission at the newly expanded Asia-Pacific regional headquarters in Shanghai and is ramping up production at its Grey Court plant in South Carolina over the next few years. General Motors (GM) is also said to be working in-house on a continuously variable transmission (CVT) for the US market. The new CVT will be used in several "high volume" products by 2019 and will be mated to GM's new small gas engine (SGE) family of 3- and 4-cylinder.

IHS Automotive forecasts that production of transmissions with 8/9/10 speeds is to increase from 2.18 million in 2015 to 9.17 million in 2019. By 2019 IHS Automotive forecasts that 10-speed transmissions production will be 2.87 million.

Contacts

Copyright © 2025 S&P Global Inc. All rights reserved.

These materials, including any software, data, processing technology, index data, ratings, credit-related analysis, research, model, software or other application or output described herein, or any part thereof (collectively the “Property”) constitute the proprietary and confidential information of S&P Global Inc its affiliates (each and together “S&P Global”) and/or its third party provider licensors. S&P Global on behalf of itself and its third-party licensors reserves all rights in and to the Property. These materials have been prepared solely for information purposes based upon information generally available to the public and from sources believed to be reliable.
Any copying, reproduction, reverse-engineering, modification, distribution, transmission or disclosure of the Property, in any form or by any means, is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of S&P Global. The Property shall not be used for any unauthorized or unlawful purposes. S&P Global’s opinions, statements, estimates, projections, quotes and credit-related and other analyses are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions, and do not address the suitability of any security, and there is no obligation on S&P Global to update the foregoing or any other element of the Property. S&P Global may provide index data. Direct investment in an index is not possible. Exposure to an asset class represented by an index is available through investable instruments based on that index. The Property and its composition and content are subject to change without notice.

THE PROPERTY IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS. NEITHER S&P GLOBAL NOR ANY THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS (TOGETHER, “S&P GLOBAL PARTIES”) MAKE ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, FREEDOM FROM BUGS, SOFTWARE ERRORS OR DEFECTS, THAT THE PROPERTY’S FUNCTIONING WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR THAT THE PROPERTY WILL OPERATE IN ANY SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE CONFIGURATION, NOR ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO ITS ACCURACY, AVAILABILITY, COMPLETENESS OR TIMELINESS, OR TO THE RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE PROPERTY. S&P GLOBAL PARTIES SHALL NOT IN ANY WAY BE LIABLE TO ANY RECIPIENT FOR ANY INACCURACIES, ERRORS OR OMISSIONS REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE. Without limiting the foregoing, S&P Global Parties shall have no liability whatsoever to any recipient, whether in contract, in tort (including negligence), under warranty, under statute or otherwise, in respect of any loss or damage suffered by any recipient as a result of or in connection with the Property, or any course of action determined, by it or any third party, whether or not based on or relating to the Property. In no event shall S&P Global be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees or losses (including without limitation lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs or losses caused by negligence) in connection with any use of the Property even if advised of the possibility of such damages. The Property should not be relied on and is not a substitute for the skill, judgment and experience of the user, its management, employees, advisors and/or clients when making investment and other business decisions.

The S&P Global logo is a registered trademark of S&P Global, and the trademarks of S&P Global used within this document or materials are protected by international laws. Any other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

The inclusion of a link to an external website by S&P Global should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or the website's owners (or their products/services). S&P Global is not responsible for either the content or output of external websites. S&P Global keeps certain activities of its divisions separate from each other in order to preserve the independence and objectivity of their respective activities. As a result, certain divisions of S&P Global may have information that is not available to other S&P Global divisions. S&P Global has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of certain nonpublic information received in connection with each analytical process. S&P Global may receive compensation for its ratings and certain analyses, normally from issuers or underwriters of securities or from obligors. S&P Global reserves the right to disseminate its opinions and analyses. S&P Global Ratings’ public ratings and analyses are made available on its sites, www.spglobal.com/ratings (free of charge) and www.capitaliq.com (subscription), and may be distributed through other means, including via S&P Global publications and third party redistributors.