GM to invest more than $1 billion in large pickup production

General Motors plans to invest more than $1 billion in two Michigan plants to produce its next-generation heavy-duty trucks, the company announced Monday.
The investment includes $788 million to prepare the Flint Assembly Plant to manufacture heavy duty gasoline and diesel trucks. Another $233 million will be invested in the automaker’s Flint Metal Center to help produce the vehicle. Both factories are located in central Michigan.
Despite GM’s pledge to offer an all-electric vehicle exclusively by 2035, the company continues to invest in traditional vehicles such as the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickup trucks, according to CNBC. reported.
Demand is particularly high for highly profitable trucks, which need to be sold to fund automakers’ investments in EVs.
A GM spokesman said construction related to the investment is expected to begin in the fourth quarter. He did not disclose the details or timing of the next-generation pickup.
In 2022, GM reported a 38% year-over-year increase in sales of heavy-duty pickup trucks, with about 288,000 trucks sold.
The investment announcement comes ahead of contract negotiations this summer between Detroit automakers, including GM, and the United Auto Workers.
For investors, the UAW negotiations typically create short-term headwinds every four years, leading to increased costs. But this year’s negotiations, fueled by years of organized labor movements across the country, pro-union presidents and an industry transitioning to all-electric vehicles, are among the most controversial and important in recent memory. expected to be something.
“If the hard work of UAW members is performing as well as it has in the last decade, the company should continue to invest in its employees,” said Mike Booth, UAW Vice-Chairman, who oversees the union’s GM division. said in a statement. release.
Last week, UAW leaders publicly laid out their biggest bargaining agenda, including reinstating cost-of-living adjustments that were abolished during the Great Recession, strengthening job security, increasing membership and eliminating tiered pay. Earn various wages and benefits.