General Motors announced plans to invest $1.8 billion and add 400 new jobs at manufacturing operations in six states, including $300 million and 400 new jobs at its Orion Assembly plant in suburban Detroit to produce a new full-electric Chevrolet vehicle.
The investment, announced Friday by GM CEO Mary Barra at the Orion plant, is expected to occur over the next two to three years, the company said.
The new electric vehicle had been slated for production outside of the U.S. The decision to bring it to Orion was based on many factors, including:
- The Orion plant currently builds the Bolt EV, and the new Chevrolet EV will be based off an advanced version of the same vehicle architecture.
- Moving production to a U.S. manufacturing plant supports the rules of origin provisions in the proposed United States, Mexico and Canada Agreement.
In addition to the job growth at the Orion plant, GM has job opportunities at several other U.S. manufacturing plants for virtually all U.S. hourly employees impacted by the recent announcement of unallocated plants. Other GM manufacturing plants adding jobs include Flint, Michigan; Spring Hill, Tennessee; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Arlington, Texas; and Toledo, Ohio.
The news comes days after U.S. President Donald lambasted the company for plans to potentially close up to four domestic plants. GM says the announcements were planned prior to his comments.
