General Motors (GM) will invest US$918 million in four production plants in the United States for the manufacture of V8 combustion engines and parts for electric vehicles.
The investment comes despite the largest US automaker pledging to stop producing gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2035.
Most of the money, $854 million, will go toward preparing GM’s plants in Flint, Bay City, Defiance and Rochester for production of the sixth-generation Small Block V8 combustion engine.
The remaining US$64 million will make it possible to manufacture parts for electric vehicles at the Defiance and Rochester plants.
Gerald Johnson, GM’s executive vice president for Global Manufacturing, said in a statement that these investments secure jobs at these plants for years to come.
With the new investment package, since 2013 the company has allocated more than US$37 billion to its production plants in the United States.
GM also noted that the investment in V8 engines “underscores the company’s commitment to continue to provide a robust line of combustion engine vehicles to consumers while continuing to accelerate its transformation to an all-electric future.”
The most benefited plant will be the Flint engine plant, which will receive US$579 million to assemble the sixth generation of the Small Block V8.
While the plant is renovated, it will continue to make 3-liter turbodiesel engines, which GM uses in pickup trucks.