General Motors will invest just shy of US$1.3 billion ($1.45 billion) across five of its US manufacturing sites, with funding going towards production of a new V6 engine, an all-new 10-speed automatic transmission and an existing six-speed automatic transmission.
Directed towards assembly plants in Detroit and Flint, a Romulus engine plant in Michigan, a transmission factory in Toledo, Ohio, and a casting plant in Bedford, Indiana, GM says the investment will create or retain about 1000 jobs and takes its 2013 plant upgrade spending to US$2.8 billion ($3.1 billion).
US$600 million ($671 million) is earmarked for facility upgrades at Flint, including a new paint shop at the site. US$493.4 million ($552 million) will go to Romulus to produce the new 10-speed automatic transmission and increase capacity of a new V6 engine, while US$121 million ($135 million) will go to a logistics optimisation centre in Detroit.
The Toledo transmission factory will also receive US$30.6 million ($34 million) to increase production capacity of GM’s existing six-speed automatic transmission, along with tooling for a new variant, and US$29.2 million ($33 million) will be spent on transmission components from Bedford.
The US car maker – no longer part owned by the US government – says details of the new V6 engine and 10-speed auto, the latter claimed to improve fuel economy and performance, will be announced at a later date.
GM’s investment announcement comes one day after Ford revealed its 2014 growth plans, which will include 23 new models and three new manufacturing plants, and less than a week since Holden confirmed it will cease local vehicle and engine production by the end of 2017.
