General Motor announced a massive cut to its work force and the axing of a number of car models, but there was one nugget of information that leaves the future of GM heavy duty trucks in question.
The company announced that it is closing the Baltimore Operations plant in White Marsh, Maryland, in 2019, the plant that builds the Allison A1000 transmission for the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra HD. No mention is made of where the transmission will be built moving forward, an important question considering the new generation of GM HD trucks is due out in 2019. The White Marsh plant also produces electric motors.
In the press release for the plant closing, GM says that the move is to accommodate more autonomous and electric vehicles along with “integrating its vehicle and propulsion engineering teams.” A shift from cars to more trucks and SUVs is also part of the reorganization, though that doesn’t e
So this new downsizing at GM begs the question, is GM moving away from Allison transmissions all together for the new heavy duty pickup truck? There is a rumor that the new heavy duty pickups from GM will use the same 10-speed automatic found in the half-ton pickups, which could replace the Allison all together.
An all-new engine is coming to the new GM HD pickups, with reports suggesting it will be a 6.6-liter V8 engine codenamed LXX, expected to produce 400 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque.
We are expecting to hear more about the all-new GM heavy duty pickup trucks sometime in the near future, so all of our transmission questions will be answered then. We should learn more about this next week.
