General Motors announced today that it will invest US$500m in its Toledo, Ohio transmission plant to produce a new Hydra-Matic 6L80 six-speed, rear-wheel-drive automatic transmission for full-size SUVs and trucks.
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The investment will help transition approximately 900 current employees from four-speed to six-speed transmission work. It includes partial facility renovation and a 400,000 sq. ft. expansion, as well as new machinery, equipment and tooling to support new processes. In addition to the $500m facility investment, GM will invest an additional $100m for supplier tooling, containers and investments at other locations necessary to support the Toledo operations. Construction is set to begin in July 2006. Production of the transmissions is scheduled to begin in late 2008.
GM Powertrain’s Toledo Transmission plant opened in 1916, and moved to its present location in 1955. In five of the past six years, Toledo Transmission has been ranked No. 1 in productivity by Harbour & Associates Inc.’s annual report on North American transmission and powertrain plants. The plant ranked No. 2 in 2005. The 1.8 million sq. ft. plant employs 3,440 hourly and salaried employees.
