Thread: GM to invest $2 BILLION in plants, create 4,200 jobs

May 10, 2011

General Motors to invest $2B in plants, create 4,200 jobs

07:56 AMPrint Share
By Fred Meier, USA TODAY

GM is expected to announce today it will spend more than $2 billion on plant updates and expansion in eight states, creating 4,200 jobs. Most of the jobs will be on the plant floor, but some white-collar jobs are part of the plans.

CEO Dan Akerson will reveal the plans today at GM's Toledo, Ohio, transmission factory, where GM will spend about $250 million and add at least 250 jobs. He'll also visit other plants in the plan, which include the Warren (Mich.) Tech Center and engine plants in Spring Hill, Tenn., and Tonawanda, N.Y.

About half the hires will be at Detroit-Hamtramck, where GM builds the Chevrolet Volt and is in the expected last year of building the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS sedans. Later this year, it will be revamped to start building the 2013 Malibu.

Hiring is expected to start this year and run through 2013.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... titialskip

Wow, 4200 new government jobs.

Glad to see that the $2 BILLION is for U.S. plants and jobs.

Thanks to the goverment bail out that reps. said would not work g.m. is making profits and creating jobs.Way to go G.M.put americans to work.

RELATED

GM spending $131 million to upgrade KY. Corvette plant
(250 new jobs)

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-237991.html

It's not likely. The economy and sales will need much improvement before this happens. This is just feel good news.

General Motors sales surge 26.4 percent in April

Lansing-built vehicles help boost results

Written by
Barbara Wieland
bwieland@lsj.com

DETROIT - General Motors Co.'s U.S. sales jumped 26.4 percent last month as high gas prices drove fuel-efficient vehicle sales higher.
Sales of locally made models also climbed.

The automaker reported Tuesday it sold 232,538 vehicles in April, up from 183,997 one year earlier.

Excluding sales from April 2010 of GM's sold or discontinued brands - Hummer, Pontiac, Saturn and Saab - overall U.S. sales climbed 27 percent.

GM attributed the double-digit gain partly to soaring sales of fuel-efficient vehicles such as the Chevrolet Cruze in the face of gas prices of $4 per gallon and higher.

Lansing produced

Larger vehicles made in the Lansing area also posted gains, led by the Cadillac STS sedan made at the Lansing Grand River assembly plant. STS sales soared 168.8 percent in April from a year earlier.

Cadillac spokeswoman Jordana Strosberg said the increased sales came as GM wound down production of the luxury sedan.

The Cadillac CTS line, also made at Lansing Grand River, jumped 28.7 percent last month. The CTS line includes sedan, coupe and wagon versions.
Sales of the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Chevrolet Traverse crossovers made at the Lansing Delta Township plant also gained.

Acadia sales leaped 41.7 percent, Enclave sales grew 13.7 percent and Traverse sales climbed 7.2 percent from year-earlier levels.
Crossovers popular

"The Acadia and the Enclave are two of our best sellers," said Jason Morgan, General Motors manager at Crippen Buick GMC Mazda Volvo in Delta Township.

He said that high gas prices have shoppers keeping fuel economy in mind. However, people aren't willing to give up the size and space of a sport utility vehicle.

That's what makes crossovers such as the Enclave and Acadia big sellers, he said. Crossovers are vehicles that look like SUVs but are built on more fuel-efficient car bodies.

"People still have families and they still need the larger-sized vehicles," Morgan said. "Where they used to drive (GMC) Yukons or (Chevrolet) Suburbans, now they look at the Acadia and Enclave."

The Acadia, Enclave and Traverse, with standard six-cylinder engines, have fuel economy ratings of 17 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway. A Yukon with an eight-cylinder, regular unleaded gasoline engine gets 15 mpg in the city and 21 mpg on the highway, according to government ratings. The Suburban, also with an eight-cylinder engine, gets 10 mpg in the city and 15 mpg on the highway.

Don Johnson, GM's vice president of U.S. sales operations, said in a statement that Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossover sales were particularly strong, too.

GM sold 25,160 Chevrolet Cruze compact models in April, the best performance for the 36 mpg car since it was introduced in October.
GM said U.S. sales of passenger cars shot up 50 percent last month. Pickup sales rose 2 percent.

Other automakers also reported sales gains that benefited from the popularity of small cars.

Dearborn-based Ford Motor Co. said its U.S. sales rose 13 percent in April. Chrysler Group LLC, based in Auburn Hills, said U.S. sales climbed 22 percent.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan also are affecting domestic car sales, industry analysts said.

Widespread vehicle shortages related to the March 11 earthquake in Japan are expected by the end of May. That might have spurred people to buy cars now.

Japanese carmakers
Japanese automakers posted sales gains that ranged from small to double-digit.

In April, Toyota Motor Corp. sales rose 1.3 percent, while Nissan Motor Co. sales grew 12.2 percent. Honda Motor Co.'s U.S. sales rose 9.8 percent, and Subaru of America sales were up 7 percent.

South Korean manufacturers also had sales increases. Hyundai Motor Co.'s sales jumped 40 percent. Budget-minded Kia Motors America's sales surged 57 percent.

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/arti ... CFRONTPAGE

General Motors Gives Corvette A Pricey Upgrade.

http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2011/ ... y-upgrade/