Todelo Plant Ready to Start Production on the 2015 Corvette’s 8-Speed Transmission

Production is ready to gear up, literally, for the slick new eight-speed transmission that will power some 2015 Corvettes, including the highly anticipated Z06.

GM expects to start building the high-tech automatic gearbox by the end of July, according to Ray Wood, president of United Auto Workers Local 14.

The transmission will be built at the Toledo (Ohio) Transmission Plant, which has been closed for a couple of weeks for the annual summer hiatus but will be roaring back to life Monday.

Wood says GM wants to make sure “we get everything right” with the production of the transmission. “With everything that’s going on, we don’t want to have any issues whatsoever. We’re checking, double-checking, and making sure everything is solid, and it looks good from here.,” he said.

During the past few weeks, about 150 new workers have joined the staff at the production facility, also known as Powertrain, wiith most coming to Ohio after being laid off from GM’s Romulus, Mich., factory. That facility is being retooled to produce new V-6 engines and new 10-speed transmissions.

By September, the Toledo facility hopes to be turning out more than 500 eight-speeds a day.

The transmission will debut as an option for the 2015 Corvette, but it’s anticipated that it will eventually find its way into many other GM products, including Cadillacs and Camaros.

The production of the transmission will cap a $260 million investment into the Toledo plant since GM announced it three years ago.

Source:
columbusceo.com

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