GM investing $230M in Flint area facilities to support Chevrolet Cruze, Volt
2011 Chevy Volt - click above for high-res image gallery
General Motors announced today that it will spend $230 million on four facilities in the Flint, Michigan area that will support the production of the new Chevy Cruze compact and the Volt extended-range EV. The biggest chunk of the money ($202 million) is being spent on the Flint South Engine plant. The line that currently builds the inline five- and six-cylinder engines used in the Chevrolet Colorado and Hummer H3 is being revamped. That line will now build the 1.4-liter Family 0 engines that will be used in the Cruze and Volt. Originally, GM had planned to construct a new factory adjacent to Flint South, but that plan was canceled last fall as the financial crisis hit the already embattled automaker.
The Flint Metal Center a few miles away is getting updates that will allow it to stamp the sheet steel body panels for the Volt. The other two facilities are designing and building the stamping dies and welding robots that will be used to produce the panels and put them together at the Detroit-Hamtramck (Volt) and Lordstown,Ohio (Cruze) factories. GM's official press release is after the jump.
Gallery: 2011 Chevy Volt
[Source: GM]
PRESS RELEASE:
GM Plants in Greater Flint Area Tool Up for 2011 Chevrolet Cruze and Volt
GM is investing more than $230 million in four greater Flint, Mich. plants to support production of the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze and Volt
FLINT, Mich. - General Motors Company is investing more than $230 million in four GM plants in the greater Flint area to support the production of the fuel-efficient 2011 Chevrolet Cruze and Volt, representing more than 500 jobs. The four GM plants include Flint Engine South, Flint Metal Center, Flint Tool & Die and Grand Blanc Weld Tool Center.
"These four GM manufacturing plants have a key role in GM's production of the next generation of fuel-efficient vehicles, the Chevrolet Volt and Cruze," said Larry Zahner, GM manufacturing manager. "The men and women at these plants are working hard to exceed their quality and cost objectives while maintaining a relentless focus on safety and improved efficiency."
The four manufacturing plants have also made significant progress in reducing their impact on the environment. The plants recycle more than 97 percent of the waste they generate. Materials recycled during the last year include 12 tons of batteries, 47,000 tons of scrap metal, 616 tons of oil, 229 tons of wood and 74 tons of plastic paper.
Key activities performed by the four plants include development of automated equipment and tooling for the Chevy Cruze and Volt assembly plants, die development and stamping of body panels and other components and the manufacturing and assembly of key powertrain components including the 1.4L four-cylinder engine generator for the Volt and the 1.4L four-cylinder turbo engine for the Cruze.
* Flint Engine South: General Motors Company is investing $202 million in Flint Engine South to renovate the former I5/I6 manufacturing operations for production of a 1.4L four-cylinder engine generator for the Chevrolet Volt and a 1.4L four-cylinder turbo engine for the Cruze. The project represents approximately 240 employees.
* Flint Metal Center: General Motors Company is investing $1.7 million in Flint Metal Center to refurbish press lines that will produce sheet metal stampings for the Volt, representing 30 jobs.
* Flint Tool and Die: This facility designed dies for the Chevrolet Cruze and is responsible for the construction and tryout of stamping die sets for the Volt program. All dies for the Chevy Volt were engineered at Flint Tool & Die. Approximately 50 percent of dies for the Volt were designed at this facility.
* Grand Blanc Weld Tool Center: General Motors Company is investing approximately $30 million in this facility to build the robotic weld tool cells that will assemble the Volt body at the Volt assembly plant. Approximately 250 employees are working on this project, including 60 who are installing the weld tool equipment at the assembly plant. Grand Blanc Weld Tool Center also built the robotic weld tool cells for the body shop to assemble the Chevrolet Cruze at Lordstown (Ohio) Assembly.
The fuel-efficient Chevrolet Cruze, which is scheduled to launch next spring, is Chevy's all-new global compact car. The Cruze will be powered by a 1.4L four-cylinder turbo engine and is expected to deliver better fuel economy than the current leader in the segment, the Chevrolet Cobalt XFE, rated at 37 mpg highway.
The Chevrolet Volt, which is scheduled to start production in late 2010 as a 2011 model, will be GM's first extended-range electric vehicle. The Volt can travel up to 40 miles on electricity from a single battery charge and can extend its overall range to more than 300 miles with its flex fuel-powered 1.4L engine-generator, which will be produced at Flint Engine South.
About General Motors: General Motors, one of the world's largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 219,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 140 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 34 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's largest national market is the United States, followed by China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia and Germany. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corporation. More information on the new General Motors can be found at www.gm.com.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Epyx 4:30PM (10/13/2009)
"GM investing $230M in Flint area facilities to support Chevrolet Cruze, Volt"
GM is only investing $230,000? Wow, they really are hurting. I think you meant $230MM
Reply
Dave 6:04PM (10/13/2009)
It seemed clear to me that the headline meant $230,000,000.
If the intent was $230,000, I would have expected the headline to read "$230K."
Epyx 6:17PM (10/13/2009)
It was clear to me a well but that does not make it any less wrong.
Chris M 10:13PM (10/13/2009)
"M" is the common abbreviation for "Millions" (7 figures, multiples of 1,000,000) in the US, and "K" is the common abbreviation for "Thousands" (5 figures, multiples of 1,000). GM is a US based company, so they used standard abbreviations.
I don't know where they use "M" for Thousands and "MM" for Millions, but it sounds confusing. Perhaps it comes from Roman numerals using M for Thousands, but in that case "MM" would be two thousand, not Millions.
Woodenbee 4:31PM (10/13/2009)
This should make Michael Moore happy! who is a national treasure, despite right wing efforts to muzzle him, they've never been able to dispute a thing he says, nuff said!
Reply
Reality Hurts 4:41PM (10/13/2009)
I am a Democrat, and even I have to say... Michael Moore is a biased liar. He manufactures "facts" that sound good simply to attack those he dislikes. He is the Liberal Rush Limbaugh. He and Rush are a waste of life and only embarrass their parties and themselves. As a Democrat, I do not acknowledge or support anything this liar says, I do not even recognize him as a member of my party. Any self-respecting Republican would also say the same thing about Rush.
Woodenbee 4:54PM (10/13/2009)
well he makes it entertaining and finding the well concealed truth is difficult, the people he's looking at aren't exactly looking for the spotlight, when he's showing uncut footage of actual events I find it a little hard to dispute? don't you, like when Bush is addressing all the billionaires and states "your my real base" what else can you infer from it, Bush never cared about real America or Americans, period, he wasn't placed in office to do that, actually the exact opposite as anyone not with their head up their *** is all to aware..., and I for one am grateful to Michael Moore for documenting these facts.
nrb 6:20PM (10/13/2009)
I don't associate myself with either party and I have to 100% agree with Reality Hurts. Neither cares about the truth. We all need to ignore both Moore and Limbaugh. If we do, they will go away.
Reality Hurts 9:10PM (10/13/2009)
@woodenbee
That is what makes him a liar... they are NOT uncut, he takes small segments of a 1 hour speech and delete the parts that he does not like for the parts that he can put into his movie that makes that person look bad, there is no secret to how this works... it is a common propaganda tactic taught to marketers for the past 100 years.
Here is what happens:
Waste of life Michael Moore watches a speech and sees:
"Any fool who says the sacrifice of American lives is not big deal is an IDIOT"
and Michael Moore cuts this, edits that and bam:
The sacrifice of American lives is not a big deal..." CUT.
And idiots like you buy it, I think that you might be Michael Moore, because no one besides his biased anti-american arrogant self would stick up for him...
3n1gma 4:42PM (10/13/2009)
Good news. I think EV's are going to revitalize US industry. They should keep Hummer and turn them into ESUVs. I think the Volt is a pretty good looking car but the front grill looks a bit cheap and plasticky to me. I know they're just trying to copy Honda's look and stuff but too me it looks a tad cheap in the front. If they could fix that and make it look more aggressive, I think the Volt would be a sick car.
Reply
Woodenbee 4:47PM (10/13/2009)
I really hope it looks like this when all is said and done, its a good looking car, that and if Consumer reports gives it the thumbs up, it should do well, I am concerned about the way GM has reverted to a sort of 70's model, of monolithic management and structure, if they get too conservative they will fail again, what I mean by conservative is relying on corrupt business practices, no-bid government contracts and the good old boy network, instead of making efficient, exciting cars for mainstream progressive Americans, the real majority, not the closed minded suburban Glenn Beck believers who contribute nothing to the world
Reply
Dave 6:09PM (10/13/2009)
Does this mean that GM is discontinuing the I5 in the Colorado / Canyon?
Reply
NeilBlanchard 6:36PM (10/13/2009)
Hi,
So, the Cruze and the Volt will be using essentially the same 1.4L engine? I wonder how they will compare in FE? If the Cruze is equal to or better than the Cobalt XFE, then the Volt should only be a tad better.
It's really too bad that they (GM) didn't take full advantage of the Volt being a serial hybrid, and instead of weighing it down with a giant 1.4L lump of iron, if they had used a microturbine (at least 40% efficient http://green.autoblog.com/2009/06/12/ford-s-max-based-micro-turbine-plug-in-series-hybrid-w-video/ ) or a ~500cc cam-driven 2-cylinder engine (like the Revetec http://www.revetec.com/ which is 39.5% efficient), then the Volt could probably get 75mpg or more rather than the ~50mpg it is reported to get while in charging mode.
Sincerely, Neil
Reply
Ghen 8:47AM (10/14/2009)
230? Where have I heard that number before? Hmm... Sounds like they're still just throwing around random numbers of dollars at things to me.
Good old business as usual.
Reply
jjcentral 10:43AM (10/14/2009)
What is the fascination for GM with the number "230" 230volts, 230mpg, now 230 million. I wish the right step is to try and make a mini volt for $230 a month lease. I would buy that day.
Reply
Stan Peterson 2:27PM (10/14/2009)
I advise all to go to the Argonne National Labs web-pages and learn what the EPA J1711 commissioned measuring technique for mileages of PHEVs and EREVs is all about.
If you did you would realize that 230 mpge is a very low estimate that the average VOLT owner will massively exceed by over a hundred mpge.
Although the approach is different in detail, if the Volt owner, keeps track of the number of gallons of gasoline consumed annually, and divides that into the number of miles driven, the average VOLT owner will meet or even routinely exceed the 230 mpge.
Meanwhile if you don't know what your talking about, please don't.
Reply
skierpage 4:33PM (10/14/2009)
@Epyx:
MM used to be the financial abbreviation for millions when accountants were pretentiously obscure and used M latin "mille" for thousands, so MM was a thousand thousands. It's so out-of-step with SI's M for million that it's all but obsolete.
Google "$100MM": 60,800 matches. Google "$100M": 2,530,000 matches. Join the real world.
WSJ spells out million and billion; FT uses "m" and "bn": "£663m pub writedown", "Lloyds faces £1bn ‘break fee’". Lowercase 'k' is the SI prefix for thousands, but darn non-scientists go for confusing consistency and mistakenly capitalize it. Aggh.
Reply