GM invests $332 million in manufacturing facilities

Work takes place on the assembly line at Flint Engine Operations in Michigan. (Photo: Steve Fecht/General Motors)

DETROIT – General Motors is planning to invest roughly $332 million in four manufacturing sites in the American Midwest. The money will be put towards the production of more fuel-efficient engines and transmissions.

The investments, which will go plants in Flint and Bay City, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio, and Bedford, Indiana, will support the production of the company's new Ecotec small gas engine, a new V6 engine, 8-speed transmission, and tooling for an existing 6-speed transmission.

The majority of that money - $215 million - will go to the Flint Engine Operations facility, to upgrade their tooling for work on the Ecotec engine. Toldeo Transmissions Operations will receive $55.7 million for tooling upgrades while the Bay City and Bedford facilites will each receive around $30 million to produce components for the engines and transmissions.

The company also is increasing previously announced powertrain investment in plants in Romulus and Saginaw, Michigan, to $646 million to support production of the new V6 engine. The plant in Saginaw will produce castings for the new V6 engines while the Romulus facility will handle the assembly.

“We are investing in technologies and manufacturing capabilities that produce high-quality, fuel-efficient vehicles and components for our customers,” said Diana Tremblay, vice president of GM North American Manufacturing.

Since 2009, GM has announced nearly $1.8 billion of investments for the six Powertrain facilities.

The new small Ecotec gasoline engine is part of a global engine family that the company predicts could top 2 million engines a year by the end of the decade, based on production in Flint and other locations around the world.