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GM announces $7 billion Michigan factory investment, most going to EVs

GM announced a $7 billion investment in Michigan manufacturing, much of which is earmarked for EV production. Four sites are included, but the key elements are a new battery cell plant in Lansing and the conversion of GM's existing Orion Township facility to expand production of the forthcoming Chevrolet Silverado EV and its GMC Sierra sibling.  GM says it is the largest investment announcement in company history and that it will create 4,000 new jobs. It also says 1,000 jobs will be retained. "We are building on the positive consumer response and reservations for our recent EV launches and debuts, including the GMC Hummer EV, Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Equinox EV and Chevrolet Silverado EV," said GM CEO Mary Barra.  GM says the Orion expansion and new battery plant will support an increase in full-size electric truck production capacity to 600,000 units. This is in addition to the Factory ZERO facility in Detroit that will also be constructing the electric Silverado and Sierra.  The Orion Township factory current builds the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV, and will continue to do so during the plant's conversion. GM did not indicate what will happen with the Bolts once that conversion is complete or whether all will continue to be built at Orion. They do not use the Ultium vehicle architecture. GM will build other EV models at three other factories that are under construction or being converted. They are located in Spring Hill, Tennessee, Ingersoll, Ontario, and Ramos Arizpe, Mexico. GM says that it will have the ability to produce 1 million electric vehicles by 2025. The Ultium Cells Lansing facility is a $2.6 billion joint investment by GM and LG Energy Solution. GM says it alone will create 1,700 jobs once fully operational by late 2024. It will join two other GM Ultium Cells battery factories currently under construction in the United States, one in Ohio and the other in Tennessee.  Not all of the $7 billion investment will be for EVs. It also announced $510 million of the total will go toward upgrading the Lansing Delta Township Assembly to produce the next-generation Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave. Money will also go to upgrading Lansing Grand River Assembly.

Cadillac XT6 SUV will be revealed in Detroit in January

Cadillac will hold an event on Jan. 13 on the eve of the Detroit Auto Show to reveal its long-awaited new XT6 three-row crossover, Automotive News reports. The XT6 is seen as a critical product for Cadillac, which has been caught flatfooted with a lineup heavy on sedans amid the boom in crossovers and SUVs. It'll slot between the midsize XT5 crossover, and the full-size Escalade luxury SUV. Cadillac recently started selling the smaller XT4 crossover as well. The XT6 is expected to arrive in showrooms around mid-2019. We've seen several spy shots of the XT6 cloaked in heavy camouflage, including some views of the uncovered dashboard and console layout earlier this week that showed a wide, sweeping dash and elements seemingly borrowed from the CT6 sedan. Cadillac is also reportedly working on a "master brand" campaign strategy expected to be unveiled early next year, with plans to make Cadillac GM's technology leader for self-driving and electric-vehicle systems, with plans to bring Super Cruise to its entire lineup. The GM luxury brand plans to launch a new or redesigned vehicle every six months for the next three years. Related Video:

GM cancels CES date, possible Cadillac EV crossover unveiling

General Motors is bailing on CES 2020, the big annual consumer technology showcase in Las Vegas, after its plans to showcase an autonomous, electric vehicle were derailed by the 40-day UAW strike this fall. New evidence suggests that vehicle may have been Cadillac’s upcoming EV crossover. MotorTrend got GM to confirm that it was pulling out of CES, which takes place in January, though CEO Mary Barra in an interview said only that the vehicle they had planned to unveil was electric and featured autonomous technology — two key areas where the automaker plans to focus in the future. The automaker said the model simply wasnÂ’t ready. But MT said it then received an invitation from Cruise, GMÂ’s self-driving vehicle subsidiary, to an event later in January in San Francisco. That suggests the automaker could have been planning a different vehicle to show at CES than its self-driving Cruise AV “robotaxi,” which famously features no steering wheel or pedals. Cadillac showed off a digital rendering of a forthcoming unnamed electric crossover in Detroit in January, saying only that it would be available in both two- and all-wheel drive and sold globally. GM has said Cadillac will be its lead brand as GM delves into EV technology. The speculation is that the crossover will also feature CadillacÂ’s Super Cruise semi-autonomous highway driving technology. Whatever the vehicle was, or is, Barra said itÂ’ll be ready for viewing in the first half of 2020. GM has been developing the Chevrolet Bolt-based Cruise AV, a fully autonomous car, alongside its Cruise self-driving technology subsidiary, and building them at Orion Assembly plant near Detroit. It had once planned to debut a fleet of ride-hailing Cruise AV robot axis by the end of this year but realized the timeline was not realistic. Testing of the robot axis continues in San Francisco, Phoenix and Michigan. As for timing on a new timeline for fleets of Cruise AVs to take over the streets, Barra wouldnÂ’t show her hand. “We see a line of sight but weÂ’re not going to put another date out there,” she told MT, adding it was more important to “gain customer trust and usage.” As for Cadillac, any new reveal would likely come after the all-new Escalade SUV in February and amid a product blitz that will see it introduce a new or redesigned model roughly every six months through 2021.