The latest announcement from General Motors shows the auto giant is a long way from saying farewell to the V8 internal combustion engine, with more than US$900 million planned for investment into production lines pumping out V8s.
More specifically, General Motors has announced US$918 million (about AU$1.3b) of investments into four facilities tasked with manufacturing its sixth-generation small-block V8 for its SUV and pick-up truck lineups.
The company has also outlined an additional $64 million investment into two plants to scale up the production of castings and battery pack cooling lines for the company’s EV portfolio.
While the EV investment might seem like a trivial amount, General Motors has previously outlined several billion-dollar investments, including a $7 billion joint-venture with LG for three battery-electric plants, atop a $2.5b loan from the US Energy Department.
In Michigan, Flint Engine Operations will receive US$579 million to assemble the V8 blocks, as well as machine cranks and head units, while the Bay City GPS receives $216 million to build camshafts, connecting rods and both block and head units.
Defiance Operations in Ohio will receive $55 million to produce a number of block castings, while GM’s Rochester Operations in New York will receive $68 million that will be split into producing intake manifolds and fuel rails for the V8 unit while upscaling its production of battery pack cooling lines for GM’s EV lineups. GM’s executive VP of global manufacturing, Gerald Johnson, said:
“Today we are announcing significant investments to strengthen our industry-leading lineup of full-size pickups and SUVs by preparing four U.S. facilities to build GM’s sixth generation small block V8 engine. These investments, coupled with the hard work and dedication of our team members in Flint, Bay City, Rochester and Defiance, enable us to build world-class products for our customers and provide job security at these plants for years to come.”
