GMC to Manufacture C8 Corvette Transmissions Out of St. Catharines Powertrain Plant
As a result of a new contract, General Motors’ St. Catherines powertrain plant will now produce transmissions for the C8 Corvette.
Chevrolet C8 Corvette production has been plagued by problems arising from a short supply of parts. It is quite inspiring to see the company stand resilient in the face of adversity as it tries to find ingenious ways to get the production back on track. Now, General Motors’ Canadian wing has signed a contract with Canadian labor union Unifour which will allow GMC to manufacture C8 gearboxes at the company’s St Catherines Powertrain facility.
The contract requires General Motors to invest $109 million in the St Catherines plant to help support the factory that manufactures powerplants for the all-new Corvette and also enable the facility to carry out transmission work for the mid-engine Sports car. The American automaker will also be investing $1.3 billion in GM’s Oshawa facility in southern Ontario as part of the contract that the company signed earlier this week. The Oshawa plant has been commissioned to build light and heavy-duty pickup trucks for General Motors.
The outgoing Corvette models come equipped with GMC’s 6.2-liter LT2 V8 motor which is mated to an 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox. It remains unclear whether GM intends to use its St. Catherines facility to develop a new transmission update or continue manufacturing the current TR 9080 gearbox. As part of the agreement, General Motors will acquire a part of the production line from TREMEC Corporation which is a Michigan-based drive train manufacturer.
TREMEC currently uses the facility to produce DCT quick-shifting transmissions which also happen to be compatible with C8 Corvette’s LT2 powertrain. Many owners have already upgraded their C8 ‘Vette drivetrains by swapping the stock gearbox for a 10-speed DCT transmission. The sports car manufacturer is also working on introducing different versions of the all-new mid-engine Corvette which might call for a new transmission.
Corvette will soon introduce an all-new C8 Z06 which will be powered by a flat-plane crank V8 motor. The company also intends to introduce a plug-in hybrid version of the mid-engine sports car which will probably be called the Corvette E-RAY.
Source: Unifor
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