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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.

Hummer EV SUV overland camper teased from GMC and EarthCruiser

At the end of March this year, GMC announced a collaboration with EarthCruiser. The automaker's Hummer team would work with the Oregon overlanding company's research and design division to develop an upfit for EVs, initially integrated into the Hummer EV pickup. For those not familiar with EarthCruiser, they’ve made wild overlanding vehicles like the Terranova, FX and EXP, pretty rad and pretty expensive stuff. The preview back then was a shadowy render that looked much like the silhouette of the Hummer SUV thanks to the living quarters slid into the pickup bed. The most apparent changes were solar panels integrated into the roof, and a cargo bay on the side of the slide-in. The duo's just put a much better tease on Instagram revealing the campfire-lit outline of what this version of an overland Hummer will look like. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. EarthCruiser is known for its pop-up roofs. This looks like a choice execution here, with near 360-degree visibility and integrated LEDs. Also, dig what looks like a platform off the back of the rig. We're going to guess that's either a slide-out or the rear flap on the camper top locked into the raised position. The cargo boxes on the side look neat, we look forward to finding out how they work and what they store. We also wonder if they'll be optional and whether they extend beyond the wheel arches, making a really wide pickup truck even wider.  We're not sure it will be "every overlanderÂ’s dream," but we are sure some stargazers are going to have some very sweet dreams in it. Slated for debut this month, look for it at Overland Expo Mountain West in Colorado, the same place the GMC Canyon AT4X OverlandX made its public debut in 2021, and where in Arizona last year the GMC showed the Sierra's outdoor potential with an Ultimate Overland Vehicle built on the Sierra 1500 AT4X.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

GM extends vehicle production cuts into mid-March due to global chip shortage

DETROIT — General Motors said on Tuesday it was extending production cuts at three North American plants until at least mid-March due to the global semiconductor chip shortage, while vehicles at two other factories would only be partially built. GM, whose shares dipped 1% after the announcement, did not disclose the impact volumes or say which supplier and vehicle parts were affected by the chip shortage. But it said it would focus on keeping production running at plants building its highest-profit vehicles, full-size pickup trucks and SUVs. GM said it intended to make up as much lost production as possible once the shortage chip eased. "Semiconductor supply remains an issue that is facing the entire industry. GM's plan is to leverage every available semiconductor to build and ship our most popular and in-demand products," GM spokesman David Barnas said. GM said it was extending downtime at its U.S. plant in Fairfax, Kansas, its Canadian factory in Ingersoll, Ontario, and its Mexican facility in San Luis Petosi until mid-March when it would reassess the situation, he said. In addition, GM would build but leave incomplete for final assembly vehicles at Wentzville, Missouri, and its Mexican plant at Ramos Arizpe. GM vehicles affected by the idled plants include the Chevrolet Malibu sedan, Cadillac XT4 SUV, Chevy Equinox, and GMC Terrain SUVs. Vehicles to be left incomplete for now included the Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon pickups and Chevy Blazer SUV. This week, GM had said it was idling the three factories where it has now extended downtime and said it would halve production at a plant in South Korea. The chip shortage has affected many automakers, including Toyota, Volkswagen, Stellantis, Ford, Renault, Subaru, Nissan, Honda and Mazda. Asian chipmakers are rushing to boost production but say the supply gap will take many months to plug. German chipmaker Infineon said the shortage would get worse in the near term. The chip shortage is expected to cut global output in the first quarter by more than 670,000 vehicles and last into the third quarter, IHS Markit said. AutoForecast Solutions estimated total lost production this year could reach 1 million vehicles. Honda and Nissan said on Tuesday they would sell 250,000 fewer cars in total this financial year due.