Chrysler Group’s vice president of powertrain manufacturing Richard Chow-Wah joined Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to name Tipton County, IN, as the site of a new dual-clutch transmission manufacturing plant with partner company Getrag.

According to a Chrysler press release Getrag will have operational leadership of the plant, which will employ 1,050 full-time Chrysler Group UAW-represented workers and 120 management employees from both companies.

The plant is expected to produce 700,000 dual clutch transmissions annually. Additionally, an approximate 230 employees at Kokomo Casting and Kokoma Transmission will be producing parts for the Getrag plant. Construction of the 804,000 square foot facility began June 27 with production expected in 2009.        

"Dual Clutch transmissions provide much better shift quality, driving comfort and superior fuel efficiency compared to more conventional technologies such as torque converter automatics and /or CVTs," says Ulrich Kohler, Getrag Transmission Corp.’s vice president of manufacturing. "DCT’s replace the energy-sapping torque converters of automatic transmissions with two wet or lubricated clutch—one that engages first, third and fifth gear and the other that engages second, fourth and sixth. As a result, the transmission can deliver 5–10% improvement in fuel economy."