This morning, General Motors announced that they would investment $325 million in their Warren Michigan Transmission plant to retool and further prepare the facility for the production of future electric vehicle components – a move that will create or retain 418 jobs.
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The Warren Transmission Plant currently has 679 employees with the bulk of their efforts involved in building transmissions for the Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia crossovers as well as the Chevrolet Malibu sedan. During the 2010 calendar year, the folks at the GM Warren Transmission Plant built over 338, 000 transmissions. General Motors didn’t go into any detail as to when the improvements coming from this $325 million investment were scheduled to begin or exactly what electric vehicle components the Warren plant would be producing in the future.
“We are very proud of the membership of UAW Local 909 whose hard work and dedication to building quality products is why this new electric drive unit module is being built in the United States,” said Joe Ashton, UAW vice president representing the GM Department. “These good paying, middle class jobs are very important for the State of Michigan and the Metro Detroit area. It is the UAW’s goal to increase employment at GM and show the world that we can compete with anyone.”
General Motors’ Warren Transmission Plant currently produces the 6-speed automatic transmission from the aforementioned GM models but with the popularity of electric vehicles on the rise, the Warren workers have an idea as to what they will be building in the near future. Ford has modified their Van Dyke Transmission facility to build electric vehicle components for the likes the Ford Focus and upcoming C-Max, allowing Ford to point out how their hybrid components are made in America – a claim that GM would surely like to make as well. Perhaps GM will use the Warren plant to produce hybrid transmissions for those models that they already service or perhaps they will work on future electric drive system.
“This investment in the future recognizes the excellent work force and operation of this plant,” said GM Manufacturing Manager Gerald Johnson. “While we aren’t sharing many details about this product, I can tell you that this investment demonstrates how GM, working with our UAW partners, continues to innovate and bring new electrification solutions to our customers.”
Check out the video below for a look at the workers of the GM Warren Transmission plant in action.
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