General Motors today announced new investments at two U.S. plants to ramp up production of the 5.3-liter Ecotec3 V8 engine for its full-size trucks and SUVs.
The carmaker will invest $40 million in the Spring Hill Global Propulsion Systems (GPS) plant in Tennessee to increase the production capacity of the 5.3-liter V8 engines. The facility currently produces three engines that power 13 of General Motors’ cars, trucks and crossovers.
The investment is in addition to an existing $22 million investment in Spring Hill GPS made in early 2019 and brings the total to more than $2 billion invested in the Spring Hill Manufacturing complex since 2010.
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Paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission, the 5.3-liter V8 engine with Dynamic Fuel Management is offered on select full-size trucks and SUVs, including Chevrolet’s Silverado, Tahoe and Suburban, as well as the GMC Sierra and GMC Yukon.
GM Spring Hill Manufacturing is the largest GM facility in North America. The complex, which includes a flexible vehicle assembly plant and the Global Propulsion Systems plant, became operational in 1990 and has since built over 6 million vehicles and 4.5 million engines.
In addition to the Spring Hill GPS announcement, GM said it would invest a further $6.7 million in its Tonawanda Engine Plant in Buffalo, New York to upgrade its production systems.
Of the total amount, $4.4 million is in capital investment and $2.3 million is allocated to improve efficiencies in producing the 5.3-liter V8 engine used in full-size trucks and SUVs. Since 2015, GM invested more than $295 million in three new engine products at Tonawanda Engine Plant.
The latest news follows the announcement that more than 30 employees were moved from temporary to full-time employment earlier this month at the engine plant.
