General Motors to invest $918m in four US V-8 engine production facilities

General Motors is planning to invest $918 million in four US production facilities to strengthen its full-size truck and SUV business as well as electric vehicle (EV) product portfolio.

The American automotive company will invest $579 million in the Flint Engine Operations facility in Michigan for assembling its sixth generation family of Small Block V-8 gas engines together with the related block, crank and head machining.

Through the plant makeover, General Motors will continue to build the 3.0L turbo-diesel engine, which is used in light-duty truck applications.

With $216 million, General Motors will prepare the Bay City GPS facility in Michigan to build camshafts, connecting rods and block/head machining for future V-8 production at Flint Engine Operations.

The American carmaker will invest $55 million in the Defiance plant in Ohio, of which $47 million will be invested to prepare the facility to manufacture various block castings for future V-8 engine programs while $8 million will be spent to build a casting development cell for future EV strategies.

General Motors will invest $68 million in the Rochester facility, New York, of which $12 million will be spent on the facility to manufacture intake manifolds and fuel rails for the future V-8 production at Flint Engine Operations while $56 million will be invested for the production of battery pack cooling lines for EV production.

Gerald Johnson — General Motors Global Manufacturing and Sustainability executive vice president said: “Today we are announcing significant investments to strengthen our industry-leading lineup of full-size pickups and SUVs by preparing four U.S. facilities to build GM’s sixth generation Small Block V-8 engine.

“These investments, coupled with the hard work and dedication of our team members in Flint, Bay City, Rochester and Defiance, enable us to build world-class products for our customers and provide job security at these plants for years to come.”

With the new investment proposal, General Motors has invested more than $37 billion in the US production plants since 2013, besides the Ultium Cells joint venture facilities.