General Motors has announced that it is to invest US$75m into its manufacturing plant in Toledo, Ohio, to increase the site’s capacity for building 10-speed automatic transmissions for use in the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra models.
Phil Kienle, vice president, North America manufacturing and labor relations at General Motors, said, “Through this investment, we continue to take steps to strengthen our current core business and build on our significant manufacturing presence in Ohio. We appreciate the GM Toledo team’s commitment to build world-class products for our customers, and this investment recognizes their efforts.” With building work to begin immediately, GM has so far invested around US$3.3bn into the Toledo-based plant.
The facility is used to manufacture and produce a range of 6-, 8- and 10-speed RWD transmissions, and 9-speed FWD transmissions for a range of Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac variants.
Meanwhile, a separate venture between GM and LG Chem will see a joint investment of US$2.3bn to build a battery cell manufacturing plant under the name Ultium Cells LLC, set to be based in Lordstown, Ohio.
Alongside this investment, GM notes that it has also worked closely with Lordstown Motors since May 2019 to provide support for the launch of its Endurance pickup vehicle. Lordstown Motors has been acquired by DiamondPeak Holdings and GM says it will invest US$75m into the company, including the sale of the former Lordstown Assembly facility and its production equipment.