GM CEO Mary Barra meets with a Romulus plant employee during an announcement of a $20 million investment there.
General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra must be feeling a little Oprah Winfrey these days; however, she’s handing out millions of dollars to GM plants instead of new cars.
Just a day after the company announced plans to invest $36 million in Lansing, Michigan plant, the GM today announced it will invest $20 million in its engine plant in Romulus, Michigan, a suburb just south of the company’s Detroit headquarters.
The cash infusion will purchase new equipment to increase the plant’s capacity for future 10-speed transmission production. Romulus currently builds V6 engines and 10-speed transmissions used in several GM cars, trucks and crossovers, the company said.
“Romulus has a long-standing reputation of quality, productivity and performance and we are proud of the hard work and commitment displayed by the entire Romulus team,” Barra said during a visit to the plant. “GM’s investment in Romulus will enable the plant to continue playing an important role in our core business going forward.”
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Mary Barra, right, and Alicia Boler Davis, center, talk with an employee at the Lansing Delta plant.
In fact, GM has invested more than $880 million at the Romulus plant, which employs about 1,350 people, since 2009. The move follows yesterday’s announcement that GM will invest $36 million at its Lansing Delta Township, Michigan assembly plant for future crossover production. Lansing Delta Township currently builds the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave crossovers.
Lansing Delta Township assembly, GM’s newest assembly plant in the United States, has built more than 2 million crossovers since the facility opened in 2006. Today, the plant operates two shifts of production and employs approximately 2,600 employees.
“We are proud of the hard work and commitment of the entire Lansing team and the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave are important products in our growing crossover portfolio,” Barra said during an event at the plant. “This investment will allow us to prepare the plant for future crossover production.”
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The investment comes after the company announced plans to close five plants and lay off as many as 15,000 workers. The moves are designed to prepare the automaker for the future and the different types of vehicles it expects to sell.
Unsurprisingly, the moves generated a tsunami of negative feedback from politicians at the local, state and federal levels – including President Donald Trump who tweeted about it extensively – as well as unions and other groups.
The company has been offering jobs at other plants for the hourly workers displaced by the upcoming closures, finding spots for all but 100 workers, it said. However, GM recently began a staggered lay off of more than 4,000 white collar employees as it looks to shrink its headcount.
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Barra and other GM officials have repeatedly defended the moves saying it’s better to make the cuts while the automaker is performing well financially and that by being proactive now, it will allow GM to make new hires that are in-line with vehicles it plans to build in the future, i.e. battery-electrics and autonomous vehicles.