New Venture Gear

New Venture Gear, a division of Magna Powertrain, was an automobile and light truck transmission company that was started in 1990 as the first ever joint venture between any of the Big Three US automakers. General Motors and Chrysler Corporation were the participants. Operation and management of Chrysler's New Process Gear Syracuse, New York, plant and GM's underutilized Muncie, Indiana, Hydramatic transmission plant were shifted to New Venture Gear Company.[1]

Founding partner plant histories

Hydramatic Muncie

In 1902 Thomas W. Warner formed the Warner Gear Company in Muncie, Indiana, to manufacture automobile parts, steering, and transmission gears. In 1919, General Motors purchased the T.W. Warner Company, including its land and buildings. In 1920 GM reopened the plant under the name Muncie Products to manufacture transmissions and steering gear for their Oakland, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, and GMC-Truck divisions. In 1932 GM closed the Muncie Products plant and consolidated operations to other divisions in response to the failing economy. The Chevrolet division re-opened the plant in 1935 to build car and truck transmissions. World War II halted non military vehicle production and the plant was converted to serve the US military demand till the war ended. The 1950s and 60s saw expansion and growth. In the 1970s and 80s GM swapped the plant to many different GM divisions ending with Detroit Diesel Allison in 1984 and GM Hydramatic in 1986.[2] In 1990 Hydramatic Muncie plant became part of the GM-Chrysler New Venture Gear. In February 2002 General Motors sold its minority 36% stake in the New Venture Gear company to DaimlerChrysler and the Muncie Transmission plant reverted to GM control. GM changed the plant name to "Manual Transmissions Of Muncie". The T.W. Warner Muncie plant closed in mid-2006 after a Century in operation and the property was turned over to Delaware County Indiana. The GM Muncie Transmission plant was demolished soon after turnover to the county.[3]

New Process Gear

In 1888 Thomas W. Meachem founded the New Process Rawhide Company in Baldwinsville, New York. In the late 1890s New Process Rawhide moved operations to Syracuse after a fire. In 1913 Thomas W. Meachem reorganized New Process Rawhide with one of his partners, Artemus Vosburgh. The company was renamed New Process Gear to reflect the new corporate direction. In 1954, after a succession of owners including Willys-Overland,[4] New Process Gear became a subsidiary of Chrysler Corporation.[5] In 1990, under a new joint GM–Chrysler venture, New Process Gear was renamed "New Process Gear Division" of New Venture Gear. In 1998 Daimler Benz merged with Chrysler to form Daimler Chrysler. In 2002 Daimler Chrysler bought the entire 36% minority stake in New Venture Gear from GM while retaining ownership of the Syracuse New Process facilities. In 2004 Canada based Magna International purchased 80% of New Venture Gear from Daimler Chrysler. In 2007 Magna purchased the remaining 20% interest. The New Process gear plant remained property of Daimler Chrysler. Chrysler then leased the facilities to Magna.[6] This lease arrangement made it difficult to compete with the European manufacturing operation Magna directly purchased located in Roitzsch Germany.[7] A downturn in Jeep demand combined with DaimlerChrysler not replacing the Dodge Neon sharply curtailed demand for the Syracuse New Process Gear plant production. In 2009 design and engineering services were moved to Troy, Michigan, and Magna International announced its intent to close the Syracuse plant. The Syracuse New Process Gear plant planned closure in November 2011 was pushed out till first quarter of 2012.[8] After 124 years, on Thursday, August 24, 2012, New Process Gear ended production and closed their doors for the last time.[9]

New Venture Gear transmissions and transfer cases

The Muncie, Indiana, plant under New Venture Gear produced the NV4500, NV3500, and NV3550 light truck transmissions.

The Syracuse New Process Gear plant produced transfer cases for all of the "Big Three" Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. The NV 247 all-wheel drive transfer case, sold by Chrysler's Jeep division as the "Quadra-Trac II", the manual transaxle for the Dodge Neon and PT Cruiser (T-350), and manual transaxles for European export Chrysler minivans (T-650 & 750) were the bulk of their last years of production.

Transfer case model nomenclature

Inside of a 231 New Process Gear transfer case
ManufacturerNumber of speeds/gearsStrengthType
NP = New Process Gear
NV = New Venture Gear		1 = One speed (high range)
2 = Two speed (high and low range)		1 (low) to 7 (high)1 = Part-time 4WD
2 = Full-time 4WD
3 = Electronic shift
4 = Not currently used
5 = Torsen-type differential
6 = Computer-controlled multi-plate wet clutch
7 = GeroDisc
8 = Not currently used
9 = Viscous coupling
Source: Sankar K. Mohan of New Venture Gear

New Process Gear and New Venture Gear transfer cases

ModelFull-Time HighHigh LockLow range2-WDDifferential
119 YesNoNoNoViscous
125 YesNoNoNoOpen
128 YesNoNoYesOpen
129 YesNoNoYesViscous
136
147 YesNoNoGeroDisc
203 YesYes2.01:1NoOpen
205 NoYes1.96:1YesLocked
207 NoYes2.61:1YesLocked
208 NoYes2.61:1YesLocked
219 YesYesYesNoViscous
228 YesNoYesYesOpen
229 YesNoYesYesViscous
231 NoYes2.72:1YesLocked
233 NoYes2.72:1Yes
236[10] YesYes2.72:1Yes
241 NoYes2.72:1YesLocked
241OR NoYes4.0:1YesLocked
242 YesYes2.72:1YesOpen
243
244 YesYes2.72:1NoOpen
245 YesNo2.72:1No
246 YesYes2.72:1Yes
247 YesNo2.72:1NoGeroDisc
249 YesNo (Pre 96), Yes 96+2.72:1NoViscous
261 NoYes2.72:1YesLocked
263 NoYes2.72:1Yes
271 NoYes2.72:1YesLocked
273 NoYes2.72:1YesLocked

Closure

  • After 124 years in business, New Venture Gear started to close in the week of August 20, 2012, and was fully shut down by the end of the week.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "COMPANY NEWS; Joint Venture Planned By G.M. and Chrysler - New York Times". Nytimes.com. 1990-02-07. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  2. ↑ "Muncie Chevrolet Plant Architectural Drawings, 1918–1920" (PDF). Bsu.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  3. ↑ "New Process Gear and New Venture Gear History". Allpar.com. 2004-09-29. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  4. ↑ "MoparWiki". Moparstyle.com. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  5. ↑ Central New York. "Last day for 300 New Process Gear workers; here are three who've moved on". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  6. ↑ "New Process Gear, Inc. | Company Profile from Hoover's". Hoovers.com. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  7. ↑ "Magna Completes Purchase of New Venture Gear". Geartechnology.com. 2003-12-22. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  8. ↑ Dennis Nett / The Post-Standard. "New Process Gear in DeWitt plans to remain open into next year". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  9. ↑ Central New York. "New Process Gear stops production this week after 124 years". Syracuse.com. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  10. ↑ "NP236 Transfer Case". Midwest Transmission Zumbrota MN. 2010. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  11. ↑ Hannagan, Charley (2012-08-20). "New Process Gear stops production this week after 124 years". syracuse.com The Post-Standard. Advance Media New York. Retrieved 2017-06-06.

Further reading

  • "History of Magna International Inc". Magna International. Archived from the original on November 11, 2010. Retrieved December 21, 2010.
  • "SAE TopTec: Innovations in Four Wheel Drive/All Wheel Drive Systems". by Dr. Brad DeLong. Retrieved December 21, 2010.
  • "All-Wheel Drive Revolution? New Venture Gear leads a shift in AWD technology". Ward's AutoWorld. Archived from the original on December 26, 2004. Retrieved January 3, 2006.
  • "GM Drops Its Stake in New Venture Gear". Ward's AutoWorld. Archived from the original on January 20, 2005. Retrieved January 3, 2006.

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