New Venture Gear was an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

and

light truck Light truck or light-duty truck is a US classification for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight up to and a payload capacity up to 4,000 pounds (1,815 kg). Similar goods vehicle classes in the European Union, Canada, Australia, and New Zea ...

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission ** ...

company that was started in 1990 as the first ever

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

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 Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the seat of Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.delawarecountyhistory.org/history/docs/lenape-villages.pdf It is located in ...

, Hydramatic transmission plant were shifted to New Venture Gear Company.

History

Founding plant histories

Hydramatic Muncie

In 1902, Thomas W. Warner formed the Warner Gear Company in

, 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 Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, Pontiac,

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it pro ...

, 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 until 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.

New Process Gear

In 1888, Thomas W. Meachem founded the New Process Rawhide Company in

Baldwinsville, New York Baldwinsville is a village in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 7,898 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Syracuse Metropolitan Statistical Area. Baldwinsville (the village itself) is located in the towns of Lysande ...

. 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, New Process Gear became a subsidiary of Chrysler Corporation.

New Venture Gear

In 1990, the Hydramatic Muncie plant owned by GM and New Process Gear owned by Chrysler formed a joint GM–Chrysler venture called New Venture Gear.

GM exit

In February 2002, General Motors sold its minority 36% stake in the New Venture Gear company to

DaimlerChrysler The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufactur ...

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 of operation and the property was turned over to Delaware County Indiana. The GM Muncie Transmission plant was demolished soon after turnover to the county. The Syracuse New Process remained with New Venture Gear. In 2004,

Magna International Magna International Inc. is a Canadian parts manufacturer for automakers. It is one of the largest companies in Canada and was recognized on the 2020 ''Forbes'' Global 2000. The company is the largest automobile parts manufacturer in North Ame ...

purchased 80% of New Venture Gear from DaimlerChrysler and put it under Magna Drivetrain. Magna purchased the remaining 20% interest in 2007. The New Process gear plant remained property of DaimlerChrysler. Chrysler then leased the facilities to Magna. This lease arrangement made it difficult to compete with the European manufacturing operation Magna directly purchased located in Roitzsch Germany. 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. After 124 years in operation, on Thursday, August 24, 2012, New Process Gear ended production and closed their doors for the last time.

Transmissions

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

Transfer cases

The Syracuse New Process Gear plant produced transfer cases for all of the "Big Three"

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automot ...

, and General Motors. The NV 247

all-wheel drive An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand. The most common forms of all-wheel drive are: ;1x1 : All unicycles Reflecting one axle with one ...

transfer case, sold by Chrysler's

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Motors ...

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.

Model nomenclature

The model numbers of the transfer case consists of the manufacturer, the number of speeds/gears, the strength (1-7), and a number from 1-9 describing the type. The following table goes into more details about the format:

Models

References

External links

First archive of nvg.com (November 9, 2000)

Last archive of nvg.com (March 28, 2007)
{{Use mdy dates, date=November 2015 Auto parts suppliers of the United States Automotive transmission makers Chrysler factories Mercedes-Benz Group General Motors transmissions Companies based in Syracuse, New York DeWitt, New York