GM will invest $328 million in the Flint truck plant to prepare for the next-generation of pickups, such as this Chevy Silverado HD.
General Motors is moving ahead with plans for its next-generation pickup trucks by investing $328 million at its sprawling truck assembly plant in Flint. GM officials said quite distinctly that the money will go to the updated, full-frame pick-ups but declined to say when exactly it would reach the company’s show rooms.
“This investment will allow us to continue building award-winning full-size pickups that offer better fuel efficiency than ever before without sacrificing features and functionality,” said Cathy Clegg, GM vice president of labor relations.
“We remain committed to providing customers the utility and capability of our world-class, full-size pickups,” she added.
GM didn’t say when the new trucks, which are expected to provide significantly better fuel economy, will be available in showrooms. But our frequent contributor, Mike Levine, of PickupTrucks.com, advises us the pickups are likely to begin moving down the assembly line by April 2013, and will be sold as 2014 models.
The large SUVs sharing those platforms, such as the Chevrolet Suburban, will begin production, according to Levine, by October.
While there have been plenty of doomsday reports about the pickup market, especially as fuel prices began their run-up earlier this year, the market has been more solid than anticipated. And, if anything, demand could surge once the economy fully rebounds, especially when housing demand perks up. Though the personal use truck market isn’t expected to regain much momentum, the work truck is still an essential mover of the American workplace.
GM’s retail share of the full-size pickup market grew to 40.4% through May compared with 37.7% in the first five months of 2010.
“Truck sales play an important role in the success of General Motors,” said Joe Ashton, UAW-GM vice president.
“We are confident that the next generation of trucks will continue to be an important source of revenue for the company and jobs for our members. Our members are ready to use their abundant talents to build high-quality trucks that deliver exceptional value to our customers,” Ashton said.
The Flint plant has 2,047 employees and builds the heavy-duty versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.
So far this year, sales of the new-for-2011 trucks have led to an additional 2.4 percentage points of market share, bringing GM’s total share of the heavy-duty segment to 36%.