General Motors has announced it will open a new technical center in the Charlotte, North Carolina region that will be entirely dedicated to performance and racing.
In a statement, GM said the new facility will expand its performance and racing capabilities and place “a focus on transferring knowledge and resources from the racing programs to core vehicle engineering.” In short, this engineering campus will allow GM to better apply what it learns on track in IMSA, NASCAR and IndyCar to its road cars. The center is expected to be operational by mid-2020, so the automaker should be able to reap the benefits of the new facility in the very near future.
“We’re thrilled to expand GM’s U.S. footprint by establishing a greater presence in Charlotte, a community that has become a racing and engineering mecca,” GM’s vice president of performance and motorsports, Jim Campbell, said in a statement. “The new facility will be close to a number of key Chevrolet and Cadillac racing partners, teams and suppliers. This will allow for improved collaboration as well as access to some of the industry’s best talent.”
Many NASCAR teams are located in the Charlotte area, including Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske. The region is also home to GM racing supplier partners, such as Earnhardt Childress Racing, which supplies the Small Block V8 racing engines for the Cadillac DPi-V.R prototype. As such, the center will allow GM to more closely align itself with these teams and partners and potentially bring in new teams into its fold.
GM’s advanced racing and development simulator
The new racing facility will feature facilities for vehicle simulation, aero development and also an advanced new driver-in-the-loop simulator. The simulator will be used by GM engineers to develop new products, like the forthcoming Corvette C8 performance variants, and will also be used by professional racing drivers looking to hone their skills before a race weekend.
“Chevrolet and Cadillac Racing are two of the winningest brands in motorsports. This new facility will build upon their legacies and hopefully lead to even more success on the track,” added Campbell. “Racing helps us accelerate the development, performance and popularity of our cars and trucks across the world.”
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Comments
Sounds good, could be an revival of GM Performance division.
Looks more like GM is just moving the same services they provide teams via Pratt Miller in their Huntersville building to a different building in Concord, and rebranding as a GM technical center. There were already enough facilities for wind tunnel and chassis tests in Charlotte and southern Virginia which GM Nascar teams have been using along with the driver in the loop simulator located at PM, so it is unclear how this announcement directly supports their sponsored teams. The power train facility for Motorsports in Pontiac is fairly new and supports race teams in Michigan, Indy, and Charlotte, so I don’t see it moving soon.
GM should work on their struggling NASCAR racing Programs before worrying about technology transfer from racing to consumer products. Right now they are not competitive on a consistent basis. Toyota is eating their lunch in the showrooms and on the track.
the new body aero on the camaro should help. chevy was using the new NASCAR body scanner using too many points of reference and NASCAR used less points of reference so the other teams were playing in the areas not scanned by NASCAR for a aero advantage.
too bad they’re cancelling the Camaro… instead of making a vehicle that is a leader they bail… typical pathetic GM…. bunch of losers….
They should move Cadillac down there too…. Its the Financial Capital of the South…
Funny how Charlotte has been a center of racing for well over 50 years and they’re just now getting closer to this segment…. Company is a mess….