American vehicle manufacturer General Motors (GM) has announced plans to invest $1.3bn in five manufacturing sites in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.
The five GM plants include Detroit, Flint and Romulus, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio and Bedford, Indiana.
This investment will be used to produce new fuel-efficient engines and transmissions, enhance vehicle quality and streamline logistics.
It will support the production of a new V6 engine, new 10-speed transmission and an existing 6-speed transmission and for assembly plant upgrades, including a new paint shop and logistics optimization center.
Of the total amount, $600m will be used for Flint Assembly plant upgrades, including a new paint shop; $493.4m for Romulus Powertrain Operations, which includes $343.4m for equipment to produce an all-new 10-speed automatic transmission and $150m to increase capacity of a previously announced new V6 engine.
Detroit-Hamtramck assembly will house a logistics optimization center with $121m; Toledo Transmission Operations will see $30.6m investment, which will increase capacity for an existing 6-speed transmission and tooling for a new variant.
Other upgrades include $29.2m in Bedford Castings, which includes $22.6m to produce components for the 10-speed transmission and $6.6m to produce components for an existing 6-speed transmission.
The company expects that this latest investment will create or retain about 1,000 jobs.
