Dearborn - Ford Motor Co. today announced plans to make an eight-speed transmission as well as a tiny one-liter, three-cylinder turbo engine as part of its commitment to improving the fuel economy of its vehicles.

Ford also will add production of a transmission for its hybrid engines to the Van Dyke assembly plant with production starting in December. The automaker has invested $135 million to design, engineer and manufacture the transmission in-house. To date it has sourced the transmission from Japanese supplier Aisin. The move created 220 jobs, and the workers are already working on prototypes.