General Motors has been painted as villains by the likes of President Trump, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and the Canadian capital of Ottawa, labor unions and others in the wake of its plans to end production at five North American plants and slash around 14,000 jobs at a time when the company is solidly profitable. So it's hard not to view the automaker's latest moves as something of a PR offensive to regain control of its narrative.
GM this week announced multimillion-dollar investments in two Michigan plants — Lansing Delta Township and Romulus Powertrain, near Detroit — and sent Chairman and CEO Mary Barra to the factory floors to press the flesh and pose for photographs with workers. The announcements, made on successive days, come in the same month when GM said it needs to fill 1,000 openings at its Flint Assembly plant to build in-demand heavy-duty pickups, and began handing out pink slips to around 4,000 salaried workers. It's a vivid illustration of the auto industry's whiplash economic cycle that's a part of life across much of the industrial Midwest. Only now, the boom-and-bust dynamics are playing out simultaneously, and within one company.
GM said this week it will invest $20 million at its Romulus Powertrain Plant to buy machining equipment to expand production capacity for its 10-speed transmissions, which currently features in the likes of the Chevrolet Camaro, the GMC Yukon and many other vehicles. About 1,350 people work in the plant, which also builds V6 engines.
That news came a day after the company announced a $36 million splash for Lansing Delta Township Assembly for future crossover production. The plant is GM's newest, opened in 2006. It currently builds the Chevy Traverse and Buick Enclave, which will receive mid-cycle updates from the investment.
Neither announcement came with any promise of immediate added jobs, but they're addressing areas where the company is seeing or foresees demand for its products. The UAW has applauded the moves, in both cases issuing statements from Vice President Terry Dittes saying, "We in the UAW look forward to more investments like this in the future so GM can build where they sell." GM last month also announced a $22 million investment in its Spring Hill plant in Tennessee to build its new fuel-efficient V8 engines with cylinder deactivation technology, which it calls Dynamic Fuel Management.
GM is hiring workers at its Flint Assembly plant, where it builds heavy-duty versions of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, and says it will give priority to workers being laid off at the five other plants. The Detroit News reported this week that the company has enough job openings around the country for all but 100 of those 2,800 displaced factory workers, but of course many are at facilities that would require them to move.
GM announced its restructuring in November as a way to free up $6 billion in cash flow by 2020 as it shifts focus to developing electric and autonomous vehicles.
GM this week announced multimillion-dollar investments in two Michigan plants — Lansing Delta Township and Romulus Powertrain, near Detroit — and sent Chairman and CEO Mary Barra to the factory floors to press the flesh and pose for photographs with workers. The announcements, made on successive days, come in the same month when GM said it needs to fill 1,000 openings at its Flint Assembly plant to build in-demand heavy-duty pickups, and began handing out pink slips to around 4,000 salaried workers. It's a vivid illustration of the auto industry's whiplash economic cycle that's a part of life across much of the industrial Midwest. Only now, the boom-and-bust dynamics are playing out simultaneously, and within one company.
GM said this week it will invest $20 million at its Romulus Powertrain Plant to buy machining equipment to expand production capacity for its 10-speed transmissions, which currently features in the likes of the Chevrolet Camaro, the GMC Yukon and many other vehicles. About 1,350 people work in the plant, which also builds V6 engines.
That news came a day after the company announced a $36 million splash for Lansing Delta Township Assembly for future crossover production. The plant is GM's newest, opened in 2006. It currently builds the Chevy Traverse and Buick Enclave, which will receive mid-cycle updates from the investment.
Neither announcement came with any promise of immediate added jobs, but they're addressing areas where the company is seeing or foresees demand for its products. The UAW has applauded the moves, in both cases issuing statements from Vice President Terry Dittes saying, "We in the UAW look forward to more investments like this in the future so GM can build where they sell." GM last month also announced a $22 million investment in its Spring Hill plant in Tennessee to build its new fuel-efficient V8 engines with cylinder deactivation technology, which it calls Dynamic Fuel Management.
GM is hiring workers at its Flint Assembly plant, where it builds heavy-duty versions of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, and says it will give priority to workers being laid off at the five other plants. The Detroit News reported this week that the company has enough job openings around the country for all but 100 of those 2,800 displaced factory workers, but of course many are at facilities that would require them to move.
GM announced its restructuring in November as a way to free up $6 billion in cash flow by 2020 as it shifts focus to developing electric and autonomous vehicles.
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