GM to invest $2.2 billion to build electric vehicles in Detroit plant

Automaker General Motors is spending US$2.2 billion to refurbish an underutilized factory in Detroit, Mich. so that it can build a series of electric and self-driving vehicles, eventually employing 2,000 people.

In a Jan. 27 statement, Detroit-based GM said that its Detroit-Hamtramck factory will start building the company’s first electric pickup late in 2021, followed by a self-driving shuttle for GM’s Cruise autonomous vehicle unit.

“Through this investment, GM is taking a big step forward in making our vision of an all-electric future a reality,” Mark Reuss, GM president, said in the statement. “Our electric pickup will be the first of multiple electric truck variants we will build at Detroit-Hamtramck over the next few years.”

GM will also invest an additional US$800 million in supplier tooling and other projects related to the launch of the new electric trucks.

Detroit-Hamtramck will be GM’s first fully-dedicated electric vehicle assembly plant.

Detroit-Hamtramck currently operates on one shift of production and builds the Cadillac CT6 and the Chevrolet Impala. Approximately 900 people are employed at the plant.

GM said the plant will be idled for several months beginning at the end of February as renovations begin to allow it to produce the electric and self-driving vehicles.

The plant has built more than 4 million vehicles since opening in 1985.