General Motors is to invest heavily in the production of its greenest cars after committing $163.2million to its operations in Flint and Bay City, Michigan and Defiance, Ohio, to support engine production for the Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Cruze and a new Chevrolet small car.
It is expected that the investments will largely be used to increase production of the Ecotec 1.4litre engine used in the Chevrolet Cruze and a 1.4litre variant used in the Chevrolet Volt.
Flint Engine will start to produce 400 engines a day in early 2011 and will increase that to 800 engines a day in late 2011 – with the increased investment bringing capacity to 1,200 a day in late 2012. Meanwhile, Bay City will increase rod and camshaft production while Defiance will boost the output of engine blocks and crankshaft castings.
The investments will be split as follows: Flint Engine Operations, $138.3million with 135 jobs created; Bay City Components, $12.7million with eight jobs created; and Defiance castings $12.2million with 41 jobs created.
This now brings the total of new US investment to more than $3.3billion with GM creating or retaining more than 8,000 jobs across 21 plants since it emerged from bankruptcy back in July, 2009.
