Getrag & Chysler team up to build DSG trannys!

Chrysler, Getrag Team Up for Ind. Plant





Chrysler Holdings, LLC - the former Chrysler Group that is being sold to private equity firm Cerberus - will team up with transmission maker Getrag to build a new factory in Tipton County, Ind.



The new plant will build dual-clutch transmissions, part of a Chrysler effort to design and produce more efficient drivetrains for its vehicles. The six-speed gearboxes are expected to deliver up to a ten-percent improvement in fuel economy over current automatics used by Chrysler.



The factory budget will be $530 million; the Chrysler "Powertrain Offensive" upgrade of its drivetrains will run $3 billion, the company estimates.



The site sits on a 145-acre plot near the intersection of SR 28 and U.S. 31 north of Indianapolis in Tipton County . It's expected to employ more than a thousand Chrysler employees, who will be able to build 700,000 dual-clutch gearboxes each year. Construction begins at the end of the month, with a production start planned for 2009.



In addition to a plant that builds Toyota Tundra pickups near Princeton, the state of Indiana also recently announced that Honda would build a plant for small four-cylinder cars near Greensburg.