General Motors has announced it will invest $300 million in its Orion Township plant in Michigan, to produce a new Chevrolet electric vehicle, adding 400 new jobs to the facility.
The new Chevrolet EV will be “designed and engineered off an advanced version of the current award-winning Bolt EV architecture,” GM says. It provided no other information on the mystery EV, only saying that “additional product information and timing for the new Chevrolet EV will be released closer to production.”
GM selected Orion Assembly to build the new Chevrolet EV as it already builds the Bolt EV with which it will share a platform. The automaker also said that a US manufacturing plant “supports the rules of origin provisions in the proposed United States, Mexico and Canada Agreement.”
In addition to the Bolt EV, Orion Assembly also manufactures the Chevrolet Sonic and the Cruise AV autonomous test vehicles. It currently employs around 880 hourly and 130 salaried workers.
This announcement is part of a larger commitment from GM to invest $1.8 billion in its American manufacturing operations and add a total of 700 new jobs across six states. The automaker says the $1.8 billion figure includes investments at its Spring Hill plant in Tennessee as well as the Lansing Delta Township plant and the Romulus plant – both in Michigan, with more investments to be announced at a later date.
“We are excited to bring these jobs and this investment to the U.S.,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in a prepared statement. “This new Chevrolet EV is another positive step toward our commitment to an all-electric future. GM will continue to invest in our U.S. operations where we see opportunities for growth.”
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Comments
Suggestions on the new model names. Chevy Wolt? Solt? Golt?
How about Dolt, referring to Elon?
I bet you they will reuse the Volt name.
As well as they should.
eletric trax? e-trax?
I don’t care what they name it, just make it AWD, off road capable and affordable and it just might end up next to the Volt in the garage. This is why I am trying hard to ignore the smokin’ deals on Volts and Bolts right now before Tax credit drop. It looks like the politicians can’t extract their heads outta their rumps and are giving the credit advantage to all the coming EV imports – stupidity at it’s best -AGAIN!
There no chance the tax credit gets extended; even if Congress agrees to a deal the orange one will veto it…
She made Trump look bad. She gets nothing until Lordstown is re-opened or sold to another manufacturer. Trump holds a grudge, he’s still pissing on John McCain’s grave.
How did she make the President look bad?
Is GM supposed to just manufacture cars like in the old days to keep factories open and lose money and then get a Bail out again?
Why is it so hard for some to grasp the Auto Industry?
Listen GM made a crappy attempt for the segment in the Cruze and people were just not buying enough in the marketplace so the Lordstown plant is a casualty unfortunately. The factory is too big to sustain lackluster sales of the Cruze.
It is a Huge plant that would need a product allocation in the Neighborhood of at least 200,000 units a year to stay open. So what vehicle should she have placed at the factory? Forget the fact that product planning and retooling takes years but please by all means explain to us how our President feels betrayed? What did GM lie to the President about?
I give you that if GM made a better car then maybe they would be able to keep the factory open but I just do not see how GM can sell enough cars in the segment to keep the Doors open at the plant. I feel terrible for the people in that city not just the workers. That is how huge that facility was. It basically sustained a whole city.
I do not see in todays market a single vehicle that can produce the numbers needed to keep that particular plant open. The only thing I see happening is they allocate more than just one model. But even if GM decides to do just that right now this split second, the facility will close as it needs to get retooled to accommodate the new upcoming/unreleased models.
It better be a really fine automobile if they use the Volt name. The Volt has been a landmark auto in engineering, construction, appearance, utility and owner satisfaction. It is difficult to overstate the quality of that vehicle. I wish them well with the new car.
I hope GM becomes the leader in EV’s instead of VW which is looking very likely as of right now.
Lets see what Marry and Company can do. The upcoming EV’s better be NO Compromise executions.
Also, GM better offer Dual Mode on all of the upcoming EV’s as options just like Tesla does.
Unfortunately, considering GM’s relentless pursuit of cost cutting and the half-hearted efforts the Silverado, Sierra, XT 4, and XT6, I am not holding my breath. GM may very well have some industry-leading advances in their EVs, but it will be overshadowed by their mostly mediocre product of today. By that time, how much credibility will GM have left? At this point, I would not trust Machete Mary to run a hot dog stand.
Hot dog stand? If she was not a woman she would not have been hired. This is more inclusive BS mantra. By the hot dog stand is too kind – Mary Bara would be selling a lemonade stand that was failing due to using lemons that were not entirely lemons.
She’d be selling severely watered down lemonade for maximum profit, there would be a false sign saying hers is the best in town, then asks mommy for money when people eventually get wise and stop buying it.
Agreed.
We all probably know deep down inside GM will mess all this up as well.
Hopefully the 1500’s debacle teached them a HUGE lesson that you simply cannot cut corners.
Customers are too educated today. Most customers do not understand engine stuff, But every single customer can tell a good interior from a not so good interior. The Europeans and the Japanese figured that out 20 years ago. I guess GM still needs another 20 years to figure it out LOL
I fear that VW will runaway with interior materials, interior execution, and interior Technology that even if GM has better battery tech most people won’t care. GM just hasn’t learned that interior is what solidifies in ones mind the purchase they are about to make. Yes exterior gets you to check it out but Interior solidifies your decision.
The sad part about it is that GM probably learned nothing. They will just cut more plants, people and costs. When Sergio Marchione took over the remnants of Chrysler, the first thing he did was mandate that $200 a vehicle be used to upgrade the interiors.
When?
I’ll say it again.
When?