A piece of good news has finally come out of Detroit’s constantly ailing auto industry. General Motors Thursday announced that the company will invest $370 million in building a new manufacturing plant for its global 4-cylinder engines in Flint, Mich. Fittingly, Flint is a city made famous in a Michael Moore documentary that detailed how the city was wronged by GM with huge layoffs for thousands of residents.
Based in Detroit, General Motors is the world’s largest automaker and currently manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries.
“We are confident that Flint is exactly the right place to build our all-new powertrain plant,” said General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner.
The plant will begin production in the U.S. in 2010, and will be the exclusive manufacturing facility in North America to produce the Chevrolet Volt’s range extending engine.
The Volt, which utilizes groundbreaking new technology, is designed to drive 40 miles a day without one drop of gas and with zero emissions. After 40 miles, the car runs on gas that also recharges the car’s special lithium-ion battery. The car is being designed for plug-in to regular household outlets.
“We are proud that General Motors has chosen Michigan as the best place to develop and produce the revolutionary Chevy Volt,” Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm said.
“Our competitive business climate, outstanding workforce and aggressive strategy to diversify our economy put us in a strong position to win this project and be the state that helps GM produce the cars and trucks that will help end our nation’s dependence on foreign oil,” she said.
The engines produced at the new Flint facility will play a key role in GM’s plan to double global production of small four-cylinder engines by 2011, with more than half of that increase coming from North America.
