GM expected to announce $300M Flint investment

[Croc]

GM expected to announce $300M Flint investment

Christina Rogers/ The Detroit News

General Motors Co. is expected to announce Monday it will invest about $300 million to build a new full-size truck at its Flint Assembly plant, according to sources familiar with the plans.

The investment will create or retain hundreds of jobs, the sources said.

GM spokeswoman Kim Carpenter declined to comment other than to say: "We have some exciting news and we look forward to sharing it on Monday," when company and union executives have scheduled a morning news conference in Flint.

GM Labor Relations Vice President Cathy Clegg and United Auto Workers Vice President Joe Ashton are expected to attend the announcement.

Detroit-based GM builds full-size and heavy-duty trucks at the factory in Flint, including the Silverado HD and Sierra HD.

The plant employs 2,000 workers on two shifts; a third shift of 750 workers is to be added in this quarter.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110715/AUTO01/107150449/GM-expected-to-announce-$300M-Flint-investment#ixzz1SIpZpz13

[daves87rs]

Good....I think more product is coming as well...

[Drew Dowdell]

Other than the Silverado/Sierra/Avalanche? Do they really need another full size truck?

[Satty]

Maybe the Avalanche gets its own plant?

[Robert Hall]

Other than the Silverado/Sierra/Avalanche? Do they really need another full size truck?

I assume they mean the NG of them...GMT-1000 or whatever...

[Drew Dowdell]

Maybe the Avalanche gets its own plant?

Not at it's sales rate....

Other than the Silverado/Sierra/Avalanche? Do they really need another full size truck?

I assume they mean the NG of them...GMT-1000 or whatever...

Well where are they built today. Expanding a plant isn't always great news if it means closing another.

[smk4565]

Jobs and investment is good for Flint which could really use it. But GM already has too much inventory of full size trucks right now. It isn't like they need extra capacity for GMT900s. Unless this is for medium duty truck chassis for dump trucks, school busses, etc.

[balthazar]

The medium dutys are/were built there, also.

[Robert Hall]

Well where are they built today. Expanding a plant isn't always great news if it means closing another.

Arlington?

[Drew Dowdell]

I thought that was the tahoe suburban.

[William Maley]

I thought that was the tahoe suburban.

Yes, Arlington is where the GMT-900 SUVs are built

[GMTruckGuy74]

GM expected to announce $300M Flint investment

Christina Rogers/ The Detroit News

General Motors Co. is expected to announce Monday it will invest about $300 million to build a new full-size truck at its Flint Assembly plant, according to sources familiar with the plans.

The investment will create or retain hundreds of jobs, the sources said.

GM spokeswoman Kim Carpenter declined to comment other than to say: "We have some exciting news and we look forward to sharing it on Monday," when company and union executives have scheduled a morning news conference in Flint.

GM Labor Relations Vice President Cathy Clegg and United Auto Workers Vice President Joe Ashton are expected to attend the announcement.

Detroit-based GM builds full-size and heavy-duty trucks at the factory in Flint, including the Silverado HD and Sierra HD.

The plant employs 2,000 workers on two shifts; a third shift of 750 workers is to be added in this quarter.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110715/AUTO01/107150449/GM-expected-to-announce-$300M-Flint-investment#ixzz1SIpZpz13

It could be that GM is targeting the Ford F-450/F-550 and RAM 4500/5500 chasis cabs and will introduce an even heavier duty Silverado/Sierra? I seriously doubt GM will re-enter the medium duty truck market again with dedicated vehicles like the Chevrolet Kodiak & GMC Topkick; however, GM may up-the-anty in the pickup truck wars with HD 4500 and HD 5500 chasis cabs (maybe even offer them as pickups with specially designed beds <non-chasis cab>).

Edited July 18, 2011 by GMTruckGuy74

[Robert Hall]

I saw at another source today that it's the next generation regular Silverado/Sierra that will be built at Flint.

[Croc]

Avalanche and Escalade EXT will be dead soon. Too bad, as I think the midgate does a great job in catering to the weekend warrior crowd. Maybe this feature will remain somewhere else?

[GMTruckGuy74]

Source: GM will announce up to $300 million investment at Flint Assembly Monday

Published: Friday, July 15, 2011, 7:49 PM Updated: Friday, July 15, 2011, 8:39 PM

FLINT, Michigan -- General Motors plans to announce investments of $200-$300 million at its Flint Assembly plant on Monday, money that a source said will be used to gear up the for the next generation Chevrolet Silverado and GM Sierra pickups.

GM issued an advisory about Monday's announcement today, saying only that it concerned "positive news" regarding the 64-year-old plant. Cathy Clegg, GM's vice president for labor relations, and Joe Ashton, UAW International vice president, are expected to be at the Van Slyke Road plant for the event.

A source familiar with the announcement said the investment was tied to the next generation trucks that the company is expected to start building starting next year.

An Automotive News story on July 1 quoted unnamed sources as saying GM will stagger several weeks of retooling at truck plants throughout next year and into 2013, including Flint, to prepare for the next-generation truck.

A major plant retooling will be required for the re-designed pickups, estimated to cost the automaker $200 million to $300 million, according to the source, who asked not to be identified.

UAW Region 1-C Director Norwood Jewell said he planned to be at the announcement.

Jewell said details of the investment will not be released until 11 a.m. but called it "great news for the whole city and county."

"I'm very pleased" with what's happening, he said.

Monday's announcement is the latest in what has been a string of positive news at the truck plant this year.

In June, the company was granted a state tax break for a proposed $417 million paint facility on Van Slyke Road, and in January, officials announced the addition of a third shift at the plant.

Link: http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2011/07/source_gm_will_announce_up_to.html

[GMTruckGuy74]

GM to invest $328 million in Michigan assembly plant

By CHRISSIE THOMPSON - Detroit Free Press

DETROIT General Motors Co. will invest $328 million in its Flint, Mich. assembly plant, creating or preserving about 150 jobs, as the automaker prepares for next-generation full-size pickups, expected in 2013.

"That is the bread and butter of General Motors," Dana Rouse, the United Auto Workers bargaining chairman at the Flint factory, said of the pickups.

Some of the factory updates are already in progress. For instance, the plant's shutdown during the first two weeks of July allowed some of the work to be done. Still, the plant will likely close for about eight weeks next year to prepare to build the new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, people familiar with the plans have told the Free Press.

"This investment will allow us to continue building award-winning full-size pickups that offer better fuel efficiency than ever before without sacrificing features and functionality," said Cathy Clegg, GM vice president of labor relations.

GM had already said it would add a third shift worth about 750 jobs to the Flint factory this year, with the positions going to transfers and laid-off workers. Monday's Flint announcement is part of the 4,000-job, eight-state hiring blitz CEO Dan Akerson trumpeted in May, as GM prepares for U.S. consumer demand for cars and trucks to continue to grow.

GM has already announced the bulk of those jobs, including 2,500 new jobs at its Detroit-Hamtramck factory.

GM's burgeoning pickup inventory has worried analysts this year, even before Flint's third shift has started building trucks.

The automaker ended June with a 122-day supply, and GM says it wants to trim that to 100 to 110 days' worth. That's still well beyond analysts' typical recommendations.

Mark Reuss, president of GM North America, has told the Free Press that GM plans to trim production as truck inventories increase. But GM is comfortable building inventories in the coming years, he said, so it doesn't run short when it transitions to the next-generation pickups.

The Flint factory is still waiting for GM to green-light a plan to spend $417 million to build a new paint shop for the truck plant by June 2015, which would allow the factory to become more productive and could require the plant to add a few more workers.

The Michigan Economic Growth Authority last month approved state tax credits for that proposal.

Link: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/07/18/2106524/gm-to-invest-328-million-in-michigan.html

[Potluck]

2013 is too far out for the next trucks, Dodge and Ford have already left GM behind on interiors and Toyota will likely be taking another swing at the plate before then.

[GMTruckGuy74]

2013 is too far out for the next trucks, Dodge and Ford have already left GM behind on interiors and Toyota will likely be taking another swing at the plate before then.

I would expect to see these new pickups on sale a year from now (late summer, early fall of 2012 as MY 2013 trucks). If that's the case, how is one year too long?

[Potluck]

2013 is too far out for the next trucks, Dodge and Ford have already left GM behind on interiors and Toyota will likely be taking another swing at the plate before then.

I would expect to see these new pickups on sale a year from now (late summer, early fall of 2012 as MY 2013 trucks). If that's the case, how is one year too long?

the article you posted says " as the automaker prepares for next-generation full-size pickups, expected in 2013."

[Robert Hall]

2013 is too far out for the next trucks, Dodge and Ford have already left GM behind on interiors and Toyota will likely be taking another swing at the plate before then.

I would expect to see these new pickups on sale a year from now (late summer, early fall of 2012 as MY 2013 trucks). If that's the case, how is one year too long?

the article you posted says " as the automaker prepares for next-generation full-size pickups, expected in 2013."

So maybe they will be MY2014....reasonable, 7 years since the last redo...

[GMTruckGuy74]

2013 is too far out for the next trucks, Dodge and Ford have already left GM behind on interiors and Toyota will likely be taking another swing at the plate before then.

I would expect to see these new pickups on sale a year from now (late summer, early fall of 2012 as MY 2013 trucks). If that's the case, how is one year too long?

the article you posted says " as the automaker prepares for next-generation full-size pickups, expected in 2013."

So maybe they will be MY2014....reasonable, 7 years since the last redo...

And that's the Detroit Free Press' words there, Potluck. GM has not spoken about the official release date yet, and in the past they have debutted the trucks earlier as full-size pickups are cash cows for the company. And I'll agree with Cubical in that even if they are MY2014 that still isn't a bad wait... what's really a shame is the GMT-355 program soldiering on as long as it has without any major investments in body, interior, or drivetrain upgrades. There should have been a MCE in 2009 the latest, and nothing.