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GM to sink over $900M into 4 plants, mostly for a new V8

FLINT, Mich. — General Motors says it will spend more than $900 million to update four factories, with the bulk going to an engine plant in Flint, Michigan, to build the next-generation V8 for big pickup trucks and SUVs. Factories in Rochester, New York; Defiance, Ohio; and Bay City, Michigan, also will see investments, some to make V8 engine components as well as parts for future electric vehicles, the company said Friday. The investments won't create any new jobs, but they will preserve about 2,400 hourly and salaried positions positions at the four sites, the company said. The investments “provide job security at these plants for years to come,” Gerald Johnson, GM's manufacturing chief, said in a statement. Much of the money, $579 million, will go to Flint Engine Operations for equipment to build the sixth-generation small-block V8 that will go into the next round of big pickup trucks and SUVs. The plant now employs about 700 people who also will keep making their current product, a diesel engine used in light trucks. GM, like other automakers, is facing stricter government fuel economy standards and pollution limits starting in the 2024 model year. New vehicles sold in the U.S. will have to average at least 40 miles per gallon of gasoline in 2026, up from about 28 mpg, under new Biden administration rules that undo a rollback of standards enacted under former President Donald Trump. That means the new V8 will have to get better mileage and pollute less than the current versions. Although GM wouldn't release details on the new engine, Johnson said during a news conference at the Flint plant that it would be more efficient than the current version. GM has a goal of selling only electric passenger vehicles by 2035, but Johnson said that's a dozen years out, a period when many customers will still want gas engines. “We know that has a horizon,” he said. “Between here and there, there are a lot of internal combustion customers that we don't want to lose,” he said. In addition to Flint, GM's engine components plant in Bay City, Michigan, will get $216 million to build camshafts and connecting rods, and to machine engine blocks and heads for the new V8 being built in Flint. The plant now employs about 425. The Defiance, Ohio, foundry will get $55 million to build a variety of block castings for the new V8. Included is $8 million for castings to support future electric vehicles, the company said. The plant has about 530 employees.

GM invests $175 million in Chevy Camaro factory

General Motors just keeps rolling out portions of its $5.4-billion plan for factory upgrades over the next three years. In the latest announcement, the automotive giant is putting $175 million into the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant for improvements to build the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro. The investment brings new equipment to the plant to build the pony car. An upgrade is needed to support Camaro-specific colors like Summit White, Bright Yellow, and Red Hot, and the factory is also getting two robotic framers. A second shift of 500 workers is resuming in Lansing later this summer to produce the model, as well. So far, GM has announced allocations for $2.8 billion of the $5.4 billion in upgrades. The investments include $1.2 billion to improve pickup production, $439 million for a paint shop for the Corvette, and more new equipment at other plants too. Lansing Grand River Plant Tools Up for 2016 Camaro $175 million investment enables production of lighter, more powerful model 2015-05-28 LANSING, Mich. – A $175 million investment for new tooling and equipment for the sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro, and the return of hundreds of workers to build America's best-selling performance car for the last five years, was announced today. The facility improvements include three new paint systems for Camaro-specific colors: Summit White, Bright Yellow, and Red Hot. The investment also includes installation of two robotic framers, which allow better dimensional control to provide a more precise drive experience. The Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant will resume a second shift of 500 jobs in late summer. The all-new Chevrolet Camaro was introduced on Detroit's Belle Isle on May 16. The current generation Camaro has been America's favorite performance car for five consecutive years, attracting both long-term Camaro fans and new buyers to Chevrolet. To improve on that success, the sixth-generation Camaro elevates every aspect of Camaro with a suite of new technologies, even higher levels of performance and fuel economy, and a leaner, more athletic design. "I may be the luckiest mayor in America today," said Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero. "Gearing up for full-scale production of the legendary Chevy Camaro is a new high point in the more than two decades of extraordinary partnership between the City of Lansing, General Motors and the UAW.

Question of the Day: What's the most irritating car name?

You hear a lot about how the Chevrolet Nova was a sales flop in Mexico because "No va" means "it doesn't go" in Spanish; in fact, the Nova sold pretty well south of the border, and in any case most Spanish-speakers know that "Nova" means "new" in Latin and Portuguese. However, General Motors doesn't deserve to be let off the hook for bad car names, because the Oldsmobile Achieva— no doubt inspired by the excruciating "coffee achievers" ads of the 1980s— scrapes the biggest fingernails down the screechiest chalkboard in the US-market car-name world. That is, unless you think Daihatsu's incomprehensible choice of Charade was worse. Meanwhile, Japanese car buyers could get machines with cool names like Mazda Bongo Friendee or Honda Life Dunk. It's just not fair! So, what car name drives you the craziest? Related Video: Auto News Design/Style Chevrolet Honda Mazda Daihatsu Automotive History questions car names