GM’s $300 Million Orion Plant Investment To Spawn New Chevy EV, 400 Jobs

As previously reported, General Motors has announced a $300 million investment in its Orion Township assembly plant in Michigan.

The plant will build a new EV for the Chevrolet brand, in addition to the Bolt EV that’s already in production at the facility. The investment further advances GM’s commitment to an all-electric future, the company said.

According to GM, the new model will be “designed and engineered off an advanced version of the current award-winning Bolt EV architecture.” That’s all the automaker was willing to say about the new electric vehicle, adding that more information will be released closer to its production date.

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The investment will bring 400 new jobs to Orion Township and is part of GM’s new commitment to invest a total of $1.8 billion in its United States manufacturing operations, creating a total of 700 new jobs and supporting 28,000 jobs across six states.

“We are excited to bring these jobs and this investment to the U.S. This new Chevrolet electric vehicle is another positive step toward our commitment to an all-electric future. GM will continue to invest in our U.S. operations where we see opportunities for growth,” GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra told employees, elected officials and community leaders at the announcement that was made on the Orion plant.

Although it initially planned to build the new EV outside of the United States, GM said the decision to bring it to Orion was influenced by the proposed United States, Mexico and Canada Agreement (USMCA). That’s because moving production to a U.S. manufacturing plant supports the rules of origin provisions in the trade deal.

The fact that the company already builds the Bolt EV at Orion Township also played a role, as the future electric model will use an advanced version of the same architecture.

In addition to the 400 jobs that will be added at the Orion plant, GM said it has 2,700 job openings at several U.S. manufacturing plants “for virtually all U.S. hourly employees impacted by the recent announcement of unallocated plants.” There are 2,800 U.S. hourly employees left without jobs, and GM plants in need of labor include Flint, Michigan; Spring Hill, Tennessee; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Arlington, Texas; and Toledo, Ohio.