General Motors will invest $1.3 billion (€943 million) in five existing plants in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana to build new fuel-efficient engines and transmissions, improve vehicle quality and streamline logistics. GM says the investments will create or retain approximately 1,000 jobs.
The investments will be directed towards the production of a new V6 engine, new 10-speed transmission and an existing 6-speed auto box, and will be used to fund assembly plant upgrades, including a new paint shop and logistics optimization center.
The recipient plants are those from Detroit, Flint and Romulus (Michigan), Toledo (Ohio) and Bedford (Indiana). Of the total sum, $493.4 million (€358 million) will be invested in Romulus Powertrain Operations, which includes $343.4 million for equipment to produce an all-new 10-speed automatic transmission and $150 million to increase capacity of a previously announced new V6 engine.
Roughly half of the total investment, $600 million (€435 million) will be directed to the Flint Assembly for facility upgrades, including a new paint shop.
GM says the 10-speed automatic transmission will “contribute to improved fuel economy and performance”, with details about it and the new V6 engine to be announced at a later stage.
Since 2009, GM has announced investments of about $10.1 billion (€7.3 billion) in the U.S. ($2.8 billion in 2013 alone), creating or retaining more than 26,500 jobs.
By Dan Mihalascu
PHOTO GALLERY
