Ford invests RM1.5 billion to develop next-gen automatic transmission for FWD cars



Ford has just announced that the company will be investing US $350 million (RM1.5 billion) in its Livonia Transmission plant in Michigan to develop their next generation transmission for front-wheel drive vehicles.

Ford believes that the investment will provide customers better-performing and more fuel-efficient FWD cars. This new transmission will cover a wide range of applications including the award-winning 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine. It will also share software, design elements and manufacturing process as its 10-speed automatic that debuted on the Ford Mustang.

With the additional investment, the company will also be adding 800 jobs to support production of the new transmission. In the past four months alone, Ford has announced more than US$2.25 billion (RM9.7 billion) in new investments in Michigan. The Blue Oval has also invested US$12 billion (RM51.6 billion) in its U.S. plants and created a total of nearly 28,000 U.S. jobs during the last five years.