GM investing 2 billion in US plants, creating/preserving 4,000 jobs

General Motors has announced that they would be investing roughly $2 billion in production facilities around the United States – helping to create or preserve over 4,000 jobs across 17 plants and 8 U.S. states.

During a presentation at the Toledo Transmission Plant, GM CEO Dan Akerson announced that the 54 year old Ohio facility would be receiving $204 million in tooling and upgrades to prepare for production of GM’s new 8-speed automatic transmission. Akerson spoke before a group that included the media, UAW members, Ohio Governor John Kasich Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, and Toledo Mayor Michael Bell – announcing the big news for roughly 250 workers whose jobs are saved by this investment.

The announcement of the $204 million investment in the Toledo Transmission Plant is actually the second move included in the recent $2 billion in planned factories improvements. Last week, GM announced that they would be spending $131 million to prepare the Bowling Green production facility to produce the next generation of the Chevrolet Corvette. Then early this week, General Motors also announced that they would spend $3 million to add a high tech solar panel system to the Chevrolet Volt Detroit Hamtramck production facility. You can read more about that by clicking here.

Akerson pointed out during his speech that this $2 billion investment in production facilities around the US is the second massive chunk of change laid down by GM, as the company has spent $3.4 million since 2009 – saving or creating 9,000 jobs during that time. According to the Center for Automotive Research, the ripple effect of the latest $2 billion in funding for these plants will add almost $3 billion to the US gross domestic product while creating or preserving around 28,000 jobs.

Finally, doing a little politicking as the company is facing negotiations with the UAW, Akerson tossed in a little corporate brown-nosing to the folks building the transmissions in Toledo:
“Nobody builds ‘em more fantastic than you do. We need you and the rest of our teams at all our facilities to keep working hard and keep being the best.”

Other GM News:
Chevrolet Volt demo program leading to new sales
GM leads all major automotive groups in April growth, sales
Camaro leads the Mustang, Challenger, 370Z in April 2011
GM recalls the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze for steering, trans issues
The Nissan Leaf beats the Chevy Volt in April sales