How Many Gears Is Too Many? General Motors Says Nine Is Enough, Or Ten, Or Maybe More

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

We moved past three on the tree. We’ve long since bid farewell to four on the floor. The ZF six-speed automatic transmission that helped to make the 2001 BMW 7 Series seem so forward-thinking at the dawn of the millennium was usurped by a seven-speed unit from Mercedes-Benz a couple of years later, and then by the Lexus LS’s eight-speed automatic in 2007.

Nine-speed automatics are all over the place: in the 2017 Acura MDX I’m driving this week, in numerous Fiat Chrysler Automobiles products, and in ten General Motors models by the end of 2017. Now the most popular line of vehicles in North America, the Ford F-Series, is arriving at dealers near you with ten-speed automatic transmissions.

But when is enough enough? How many gears is too many? Are there diminishing returns as the number of gears in an automatic transmission increases?

GM says nine is enough. Okay, ten is plenty if you insist. Ah, whatever, maybe more would be wonderful.

GM’s new nine-speed automatic first appears in the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu, then the diesel-powered 2017 Chevrolet Cruze, and then the already-revealed 2018 Chevrolet Equinox — all front-wheel-drive foundations. The ten-speed unit, with which GM and Ford also shared development, is intended for rear-wheel-drive applications.

Yet, when speaking with Wards Auto, GM’s executive director for transmission and electrification hardware engineering Chris Meagher said, “We don’t see the benefit of going higher than 10 forward speeds.”

But could more gears be possible? Acknowledging that the idea of nine and ten-speed automatics seemed unimaginable a decade ago, “You never really know for sure,” GM’s Meagher said.

While these seven, eight, nine, and now ten-speed automatics have certainly made their way into the public consciousness, Wards says six-speed automatics accounted for 55 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States in the 2016 model year.

That percentage could fall fast, however, as ten-speed automatics become common in the most popular vehicles in America: pickup trucks.

[Images: General Motors, Ford]

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.

Timothy Cain
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  • Eggsalad Eggsalad on Dec 13, 2016

    Meanwhile, Toyota will still sell you a 4-speed automatic if you buy a Yaris hatchback. I hear it's pretty awful.

    • Russycle Russycle on Dec 13, 2016

      If it's the same 4-speed that soldiered on in the xB until it's demise, it's not that bad. But not as good as the 4-speed that was in my GrandAm. GM gets so much wrong, but when they get something right...damn! 'Course, that can take a decade or two of trial and error.

  • W126 W126 on Dec 13, 2016

    The new 10 speed auto developed in cooperation by Ford and Chevy is a beast of a transmission, it shifts super fast, and will be in the 2017 Camaro ZL1 and Ford Raptor, I can't wait to see what it will do if put into the Corvette, right now I would choose a manual Corvette, but if they put the super fast shifting 10-speed in it I would strongly consider the auto. This particular transmission is not just about fuel economy, which I'm sure Camaro ZL1 and Ford Raptor buyers care deeply about, it's about improving acceleration times to get people to buy these high performance vehicles.

  • EBFlex China can F right off.
  • MrIcky And tbh, this is why I don't mind a little subsidization of our battery industry. If the American or at least free trade companies don't get some sort of good start, they'll never be able to float long enough to become competitive.
  • SCE to AUX Does the WTO have any teeth? Seems like countries just flail it at each other like a soft rubber stick for internal political purposes.
  • Peter You know we’ve entered the age of self driving vehicles When KIAs go from being stolen to rolling away by themselves.
  • Analoggrotto TTAC is full of drug addicts with short memories. Just beside this article is another very beautiful article about how the EV9 was internationally voted by a renowned board of automotive experts who are no doubt highly educated, wealthy and affluent; the best vehicle in entire world. That's planet earth for you numbskulls. Let me repeat: the best vehicle in the world is the Kia EV9. Voted, and sealed, and if you try to deny it Fanny Willis is ready to prosecute you; but she will send her boyfriend instead because she is busy.
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