Building a car is an exceedingly and increasingly expensive endeavor, companies like Ford Motor Company and General Motors can spend a billion dollars just designing one car. Building a car is so expensive the bitter rivals Ford Motor Company and GM, chose to work together to build a transmission.
A few decades ago that was not the case. It was not only The Big (or Detroit) Three (Ford, General Motors (GM), and Chrysler); any adroit engineer with an affinity for automobiles; could create their own car and company to compete with prominent automakers.
In the days before the press for automotive safety (circa 1955 to present) automakers were popping out of nothing like blades of grass. In the early 20th century, a vast majority of men worked
…show more content…
The most expensive part of building a car, is having the engine meet fuel economy requirements. It is not uncommon for engines undergo a decade of designing before even turning a key.
As a result, most automakers outsource almost all of their parts. Automakers basically buy automotive lego pieces built by specialists (i.e. Takata Corporation), and strap them to their powertrain and platform (which is often the only thing they build).
Knowing all that, why did Ford Motor Company and General Motors co-designing a transmission when each can buy one pre-built for much less? Simple, it comes down to their watered down race cars.
While it is cheaper to buy a regular transmission from a subcontractor, theirs are typically not geared for high performance, so Ford and GM would have to design their own anyway. By teaming up, they can make mechanically magnificent (and superior) 10 speed automatic that shifts faster than subcontractors’.
Furthermore, they could then alter via unique computational variables, the transmission timing to suit the needs of whatever car they put it in. For example, while mechanically identical, a Ford GT 10 speed transmission will behave entirely different from the one inside their F-150. Given that it would be across the fleet, the total cost is less than buying from a