On Thursday, reports surfaced about General Motors eyed Missouri for a $1 billion investment, but it appears other states are in the running, too.
Missourian reported yesterday following a meeting with the state’s governor, Mike Parson, and GM that Missouri doesn’t have the investment locked in. Instead, a number of other states are reportedly also in discussions with GM for the massive investment. We have to clarify the $1 billion figure is a rumor and neither GM or any state has confirmed the sum.
Previously, it was thought the investment was tied to GM’s Wentzville assembly plant, which makes the Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Chevy Express, and GMC Savana. It appears whatever GM has planned can be done elsewhere, which leads us to believe the investment isn’t specifically focused on mid-size truck or full-size van production.
Governor Parson said he will work with the state legislature to ensure Missouri provides a competitive offer as GM seeks incentives packages from other undisclosed states.
“We are excited about having the opportunity to sit at the table and be a part of negotiations to bring a huge investment to our state and the people of this state,” he said.
One state senator said the investment wasn’t only a matter of retaining the 3,500 jobs at the Wentzville plant, but also to create new ones. If the investment goes elsewhere, the senator added thousands of jobs may be at risk.
The governor added he’ll do what it takes to make the state competitive versus other state offers. If state legislators get it done, “GM will be in Missouri for a long time,” Parson added.
GM recently announced investments for the Orion, Michigan, plant for a new electric car from Chevrolet and an investment for a second shift at the Bowling Green, Kentucky, plant. The latter is in preparation for mid-engine C8 Corvette production.
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Source: Missourian
Comments
With GM having so many plants and over capacity they can shop around new products and see what local unions and governments will work with them the best to win the contract.
This could easily land in Wentzville or even Lordstown. That kind of investment would fix the paint shop problems in Lordstown and then some.
It could still include the mid size trucks as they can move anywhere.
I could see GM placing a new product at Lordstown and using it as a large media event to repair the damage done in the past year.
With everything moving to one of the few VSS platforms that will mean several factories will be able to build the same vehicles. I think we’ll see GM pitting the factories against each other more often for future programs.
GM already knows where they want to put the plant. Giving them concessions and tax breaks is a fool’s errand. Understandably they want the best deal possible put even without the breaks they are going to put it in the most strategic location possible.
That’s what Ford did leading up to the announcement that they were ramping up production in Chicago. They held out so they could extract as much taxpayer money as possible.