Six forward gears for the lazy drivers

It's been in the design stages since 2002, but now Ford and GM are putting their money where their mouths are with a jointly developed 6 speed automatic transmission that'll come out in a year or two. As much as these two companies hate each other it's a stroke of genius to realize that they were better together than being independent in designing such a major component. 4% better fuel economy than a typical car that you're driving now which likely has 4 speed auto. That doesn't sound like much, but with increasing pressure to raise fuel economy it is a huge step. Combine that with better engines that use less gas to make the same horsepower, use of aluminum to lighten the vehicle, and other 'small' things and the average car in 10 years will be a lot more efficient without being a tiny tin box on wheels.

Of course I've always advocated learning to drive a stick shift :-)