By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON General Motors on Tuesday said it was investing $920 million to expand operations at its Ohio diesel engine plant for production of future internal combustion engine (ICE) heavy-duty truck powertrain products.
In total, the largest U.S. automaker has announced in June more than $3.2 billion in investments to support next-generation ICE production, even as it vows to stop the sale of new gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035 in favor of electric vehicles.
GM on Tuesday said it will build a 1.1-million-square-foot expansion of the its Brookville, Ohio, diesel engine facility and install new technology and equipment, more than quadrupling the current size of the facility, which produces Duramax diesel engines for the Chevrolet Silverado HD and the GMC Sierra HD.
GM declined to release "product details and timing related to its "future HD truck powertrain products."
GM also announced this month that it plans to invest more than $1 billion to re-tool two manufacturing sites in Flint, Michigan, to prepare for a new generation of its ICE heavy-duty trucks and more than $500 million in its Arlington, Texas, assembly plant to prepare it for production of next-generation ICE full-size SUVs.
GM also announced C$280 million ($210 million) in its Canadian Oshawa Assembly and $632 Million in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for future next-generation ICE full-size trucks.
GM, like other automakers, faces increasingly stringent emissions requirements from California and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It will need to boost the efficiency of internal combustion models and ramp up zero-emission model sales to meet tougher regulations.
GM paid $128.2 million in penalties for the 2016 and 2017 model years for failing to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program requirements, Reuters reported this month.
GM did not post an announcement on its website about the $920 million Ohio investment, but sent a press release to Reuters after Senator Sherrod Brown, of Ohio, issued a statement touting the plan.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler)
