Rumor is..GM may sell a Division

I'd drop saab or the part ownership of subaru such first

Probably won't be an auto division. They also make their own parts. They've already combined AC with Delphi(Saginaw Steering Gear) and spun off Delphi, sold DirecTV and that leave PowerTrain Division, engines and transmissions.

Actually Rambler died along with American Motors. Jeep was originally picked up by GM (if memory serves me correctly) and then GM sold Jeep to Chrysler.

Actually, Jeep was first Willys owned (if you could think of it that way). Willys was bought by Kaiser in 1953, became Kaiser-Jeep in 1963. AMC bought them in 1970. Chrsyler then bought AMC in 1983. And its been there ever since.

What you may have been thinking of was the Buick V6 which was sold to Kaiser in 1967 but they used it in 1965. In 1974 AMC (remember they bought Kaiser by now) sold the engine back to Buick.

Didn't some Jeeps (early 80s?) come with the Chevy iron duke 4 banger? How did that come to pass?

originally

banger? How

GM sells drivetrain components and other things to anyone with the money. Transmissions to Volvo comes to mind and Volvo is owned by Ford.

The obvious choice is Saab. Of course, that may not be enough and they may have to sell Land Rover too(both of which are not necessarry to thier survival OR sell terribly well)

Sure SAAB, LR and how about Holden. Powertrain division I could see gone too. Then GM only builds cars and doesn't make parts any more, I think Powertrain is the only parts division left.

Uh, Ford owns Land Rover.

I doubt there would be buyers for any GM division, including Saab.

John

Selling powertrain makes no sense at all.

What major automobile manufacturer outsources it's primary engine supply?

John

Hit it on the nail. One of the first examples that popped into my head though was GM selling transmissions to BMW (the 5L40E if I remember correctly).

The Saturn Vue V6 is a Honda engine, if I remember correctly.

Yes, there are various makes and models where one company supplies the engines for specific models or markets, just as Mitsubishi and VW at times supplied lots of engines to Chrysler. GM Powertrain sells transmissions to BMW, Volvo and others. Those are special cases though.

Note that I said _primary_ engine supply for a manufacturer.

I don't see GM getting into a mode where they ever buy the majority of their engines from outside suppliers.

I can imagine GM Powertrain selling off it's transmission design and manufacturing as a possibility. Aisin, ZF or another transmission specialist might be an interestesting choice.

John

I can't think of any either. I guess a decision like that would be based on how badly GM needed cash to keep the overall business running. It surely would be more costly for them long term (one would think) Right now though the matter at hand is short term. Hmmm...interesting scenario though.

I don't see that GM selling off the Transmission R&D. That's the one place where GM actually has an upper hand in the market.

And I'm aware that the GM/ Ford joint venture on a 6-speed is a special case, but I'd love to see either the 350 or the 3800 mated to it. Vuarra

Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur. (That which is said in Latin sounds profound.)

Compared to what company? GM is hardly producing the most advanced transmissions in the world.

John

On what planet do you live? GM has had and continues to have some of the most bullit proof transmissions made. Just compare the smooth shifting of any GM transmission to Ford or Chrysler or any of the rice burners and you will see. GM's 4T65 is one of the most used transmissions and has no equal anywhere. Even Volvo and BMW use it in certain applications.

Do your homework before having a brain fart.

Having an advanced transmission doesn't mean it's reliable. When GM says it's good, then it's good, at least as far as trannys go.

It's smooth sure, but I didn't know that BMW has or had a FWD car.

BTW, GM rates that the 4T65-E can only handle 280 lb ft of torque. What Volvo did with the S80 is they took took a couple, found out what pieces went bad and replaced them with upgraded pieces. Originally they rated the S80 at something higher then the 280 lb ft that it ended up with, which they had to do to get GM to sell the transmissions to them.

I>t's smooth sure, but I didn't know that BMW has or had a FWD car.

OK, BMW RWD Volvo FWD. GM makes both.