General Motors reportedly plans 50 new engine variants and 10 new six-speed automatic transmission variants in the next few years.
According to The Car Connection (TCC), website, GM told a group of journalists in France that the engines would include a new turbocharged 2.8-litre V6 that will debut in the 2006 Saab 9-3 and produce 250 hp of power and 258 lb-ft of torque.
The new engine reportedly will be produced in Australia at Holden’s Port Melbourne engine plant, where the 3.6-litre version of the recently introduced GM V6 global engine ‘family’ is already made for export and use in Holden’s own Commodore line.
TCC said that GM also plans a new, transversely-mounted 5.3-litre V8 engine developed specifically for front-drive applications which will put out 290 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque.
The report added that the new six-speed transmissions will include gearboxes made for both front- and rear-wheel drive. GM reportedly said that by 2008 it would be producing more than one million six-speed transmissions per year.
The Car Connection also cited GM as saying that by 2007 it will have a hybrid system for its SUV V8 engines that will combine displacement on demand technology with a strong hybrid system to boost the fuel economy of its big SUVs by 25%, while retaining towing performance.
