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Getrag Transmission: German or Chinese?

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Broncode

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Im curious how much they are saving per unit with that decision.
Same here. Im guessing it’s more about sales quantity therefore makes more sense to buy cheaper transmission. For example, if manual transmission Bronco sales accounted For 70% of their sales....then im sure a USA or German made transmission would be choice. However, Ford probably did some “marketing research” and determined that since the manual Bronco will account for 20% of all Bronco sales through some formula, it makes no financial sense to spend money on a more expensive “quality” transmission. That’s just my guess.
 
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Ok. Did a little digging. MAGNA bought Getrag in 2018. Ford and Getrag have a previous joint venture with 4 production facilities.

The plant in China has a capacity of 150k units a year. It currently produces the 5/6MTT125/215.

The plant in England has a capacity of 481k units a year. It currently produces the 6MTI500 and the 6MTT331.

The Bronco transmission is called the 6MTI550. That leads me to believe that it would most likely be built in England as it’s the successor to the 6MTI500.

Let the comments on British quality commence.
I hope you're right about the odds favoring the new 7 speed being made in the UK.


It would convince me to get one over the A10 for the crawler gear.
 

Rick Astley

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Please correct where wrong, but I thought that Getrag manufactured the housings, gears and parts domestically (US/Mexico/Canada) and assembly was done in China?

China has made great strides with metal quality and casting efficiency over the past decade, but at the price of quality steel you're still buying American. A client works exclusively with construction grade steel and they buy from all over the world, sharing that Vietnam is actually producing steel which is equivalent quality to American steel for 20% less. This is a raw material though, not casting, forging and milling from it.

Our Ranger listed it as almost exclusively American content, except the Engine was assembled in Mexico from US made components. (can't find the pic we took of that label at delivery)
 

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Im guessing it’s more about sales quantity therefore makes more sense to buy cheaper transmission. For example, if manual transmission Bronco sales accounted For 70% of their sales....then im sure a USA or German made transmission would be choice. However, Ford probably did some “marketing research” and determined that since the manual Bronco will account for 20% of all Bronco sales through some formula, it makes no financial sense to spend money on a more expensive “quality” transmission. That’s just my guess.
Manual transmission "take" rate is about 5% of all sales nationwide, IIRC.

Jeep has been selling few manual Wranglers because it has the same Rubicon crawler transfer case for either auto or manual.

I think Ford badly underestimated the popularity and desirability of the crawler gear in the Bronco.
 

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I hope you're right about the odds favoring the new 7 speed being made in the UK.


It would convince me to get one over the A10 for the crawler gear.
TBH I think I would prefer china. UK just reminds me of the "midlands" transmission that sent all the minis to the crusher. Would be nice at this point to hear a leak that tremec is working on a trans as an alternative/upgrade should this project be a daunting failure. Maybe it will all be ok?
 

N3T

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I hope you're right about the odds favoring the new 7 speed being made in the UK.


It would convince me to get one over the A10 for the crawler gear.
I am well aware of all the old jokes about Lucas electrics, British made cars ‘character’ built in, and all the rest - I watched Top Gear religiously for a lot of years and they were merciless!

I also know that the UK assembled Ford Escort was spoken of very well in England and Europe for its staunch reliability. It was held in higher regard than the US made version. Currently I know of two companies making cars there: McLaren & Lotus, and people seem to like their products awfully well. So it’s possible that if the Bronco manual is made/assembled in the UK we’ll be ok. And internet biases notwithstanding, I don’t think it’s crazy to say if it were assembled in China we’ll be ok, too. Making assumptions and wild prognostications about how a product that no one has seen or driven is going to be made in the future is a fool’s errand.

Ford Bronco Getrag Transmission:  German or Chinese? FD86DEE1-D41B-42B5-B2D4-887D356589F6
 

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So just to clarify where this thread should go guys, there isn’t anything xenophobic about having concerns about Chinese made products. You can be concerned about products made anywhere, hell there is a lot of crappy stuff made right here in the USA! We don’t need politics about China being brought in here, but having a transmission built in China can definitely be a point of contention due to obviously quality questions. So let’s stick to that and the qualms we may have about how QC can be upheld if the transmission is indeed Chinese made.
 

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TBH I think I would prefer china. UK just reminds me of the "midlands" transmission that sent all the minis to the crusher. Would be nice at this point to hear a leak that tremec is working on a trans as an alternative/upgrade should this project be a daunting failure. Maybe it will all be ok?
The Midlands transmission was designed and made there.

The Getrag is a German company and design.
 

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The Midlands transmission was designed and made there.

The Getrag is a German company and design.
I know...even more frightening! Wish they had gone w/tremec personally. It is what it is. Ax15 was getrag and that was a good trans...so maybe I am just too scared about nothing!
 

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Rick Astley

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I think Ford badly underestimated the popularity and desirability of the crawler gear in the Bronco.
You are so incredibly wrong.

I have it on very good authority (yelled at many times in these forums) that the automatic is better for off-road and on-road. It has no weak points and will make driving Bronco more engaging and fun.

I also have it on very good authority (yelled at many times in these forums), that the manual transmission is dead and serves no point because cars are faster with dual clutch automatics and also better in traffic.

Therefore I must regurgitate that opinion to you now so you can be informed.

Full disclosure: I will be ordering a 2.3/MT Bronco and am so friken excited that the 2.3 is being offered as an engine choice, and pairing it with a proper 3-pedal transmission is a dream come true after dealing with the numb, dull, confused automatic in the Ranger (which will be used, unchanged, in Bronco). Even if the MT was offered on the 2.7, i'd take the 2.3 and cost savings to put elsewhere in the build. Really don't think a stock Bronco "needs" the HP/TQ put out by the 2.7 considering the weight and packaging constraints.
 

BroncOcotillo

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Available information online indicates the MT88 transmission is “likely” to be manufactured/assembled in China. It has not been officially confirmed.

From the other Getrag transmission thread: https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/getrag-transmission-english-or-british.5423/


(From Car and Driver:
“The Bronco's seven-speed manual is a Getrag unit, part of the company's new family of six- and seven-speed longitudinal manuals that it calls MTI550.”
Ford calls this new seven-speed transmission MT88.

From Wall Street Journal:
“Based in Untergruppenbach, Germany, Getrag was founded in 1935 by Hermann Hagenmeyer. It has about 13,500 employees and operates 13 manufacturing and 10 engineering centers in nine countries in Europe, Asia and North America. Four of those manufacturing locations operate in China alone.

From Jalopnik:
“Profiles for employees at the Getrag Jiangxi facility in Nanchang, China show that they are working on a project that is coded MT-88, which is not surprising as they contributed to the development of the MT-82 that is currently in the Mustang. The MT-82 is built at that Nanchang facility in China so it is likely that this new MT-88 could be built there as well.”)
 

BroncOcotillo

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Full disclosure: I will be ordering a 2.3/MT Bronco and am so friken excited that the 2.3 is being offered as an engine choice, and pairing it with a proper 3-pedal transmission is a dream come true after dealing with the numb, dull, confused automatic in the Ranger (which will be used, unchanged, in Bronco). Even if the MT was offered on the 2.7, i'd take the 2.3 and cost savings to put elsewhere in the build. Really don't think a stock Bronco "needs" the HP/TQ put out by the 2.7 considering the weight and packaging constraints.
I agree that configuration would be best for off-roading/rock-crawling. The 2.7 automatic might be better for desert running.
 
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WNC_Bronco

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After owning an automatic 2012 Focus, I'm never buying an automatic from Ford again. My manual Fiesta ST has given me no issues. Sure there's a lot of awful manufacturing in China but they have high quality manufacturing too. I'll take my chances with the manual. I would feel really dumb if I got another faulty automatic from Ford. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...
Focus was and is a POS transmission,no where near the quality to compare of the new 10 speed AT.
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