GM Announces a Total of $56 Million in Investments at Two Michigan Plants

Automaker General Motors announced plans to invest $36 million and $20 million in its Lansing and Romulus plants, respectively, in Michigan.
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The Lansing plant produces the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave crossovers.
“We are proud of the hard work and commitment of the entire Lansing team and the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave are important products in our growing crossover portfolio,” GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra during a visit to the plant to meet with employees and community leaders, as quoted in a company release. “This investment will allow us to prepare the plant for future crossover production.”
The Lansing Delta Township plant opened in 2006 and has produced more than 2 million crossovers since then. According to the release, GM has invested more than $600 million in the plant since 2009.
Meanwhile, at its Romulus propulsion plant, the company plans to invest $20 million in order to augment its “capacity for future 10-speed transmission production.”
The plant produces V6 engines and 10-speed transmissions used in GM vehicles.
“Romulus has a long-standing reputation of quality, productivity and performance and we are proud of the hard work and commitment displayed by the entire Romulus team,” Barra said. “GM’s investment in Romulus will enable the plant to continue playing an important role in our core business going forward.”
Per the release, GM has invested more than $880 million in its Romulus plant since 2009.
The Romulus plant opened in 1976 and has been producing engines since the 1980s, having since produced over 10.8 million V8 engines and over 6.6 million V6 engines.
The twin investment announcements come a few months after GM’s announced closure of five North American plants by the end of 2019, in addition to a 15% workforce reduction. Two of the plants tapped for closure are in Michigan (Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Detroit and Warren Transmission Operations in Warren). GM’s planned plant closures and workforce reduction was expected to save the company $6 billion by the end of 2020.
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“In the past four years, GM has refocused capital and resources to support the growth of its crossovers, SUVs and trucks, adding shifts and investing $6.6 billion in U.S. plants that have created or maintained 17,600 jobs,” GM said in a release Nov. 26, 2018. “With changing customer preferences in the U.S. and in response to market-related volume declines in cars, future products will be allocated to fewer plants next year.”