Willow Run Transmission is a General Motors factory in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan

Ypsilanti Township, Michigan

Ypsilanti Charter Township is a charter township of Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 49,182...

. Opened in 1953, it produced Hydra-Matic automatic transmission

Automatic transmission

An automatic transmission is one type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...

s for use by General Motors and others. This factory was originally the Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

 Willow Run

Willow Run

The Willow Run manufacturing plant, located between Ypsilanti and Belleville, Michigan, was constructed during World War II by Ford Motor Company for the mass production of the B-24 Liberator military aircraft....

 facility, which built B-24 Liberator

B-24 Liberator

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...

 bombers during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

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From 1947 to 1953 it built Kaiser and Frazer cars for the Kaiser-Frazer Corp.
On February 14, 2006, GM announced an investment in the Willow Run plant to produce the six-speed GM 6L80 transmission

GM 6L80 transmission

The 6L80 is a 6-speed automatic transmission built by General Motors at their Willow Run Transmission plant, in Ypsilanti, MI. It was introduced in late 2005, and is very similar in design to the smaller 6L45/6L50, produced at GM Powertrain in Strasbourg, France...

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Products:

• GM 4L80 transmission
• GM 4L85 transmission
• GM 4T80 transmission
  GM 4T80 transmission
  The 4T80E is a series of automatic transmissions from General Motors. Designed for transverse engine configurations, the series includes 4 forward gears...
  
  
• GM 6L80 transmission
  GM 6L80 transmission
  The 6L80 is a 6-speed automatic transmission built by General Motors at their Willow Run Transmission plant, in Ypsilanti, MI. It was introduced in late 2005, and is very similar in design to the smaller 6L45/6L50, produced at GM Powertrain in Strasbourg, France...
  
  
• GM 6L50 transmission
  GM 6L50 transmission
  The 6L50 is a 6-speed longitudinally-mounted automatic transmission produced by General Motors. It is very similar in design to the larger 6L80/6L90, and is produced at the GM Powertrain plant in Strasbourg, France. It features clutch to clutch shifting, eliminating the bands used on older...
  
  
• GM 6L90 transmission

On June 1, 2009, GM announced it would be closing the plant as part of its bankruptcy proceedings

General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization

The General Motors Chapter 11 sale of the assets of automobile manufacturer General Motors and some of its subsidiaries was implemented through section 363 of Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York...

. The plant is currently owned by Motors Liquidation Company

Motors Liquidation Company

Motors Liquidation Company , formerly MTLQQ on OTC Pink, was the company left to settle past liability claims from General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization...

, and transmission production ended on December 15, 2010.

The plant is a Michigan State Historic Site, and as such will not be demolished after closing down. Rather, ownership is to be transferred to a trust at the end of 2010 if it has not been purchased.