General Motors Co. plans to announce Thursday that it will build a compact-sized Cadillac at its Grand River Assembly plant in Lansing, a $190 million investment that will put 600 people to work, officials briefed on the announcement said.
GM CEO Daniel Akerson will make the announcement at the plant, joined by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, United Auto Workers President Bob King and three Michigan members of Congress.
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The automaker is expected to call its new Cadillac the ATS. It will be smaller than the Cadillac CTS and similar in size to Cadillac BLS sold in Europe, according to a source familiar with the project.
GM spokeswoman Kimberly Carpenter declined comment Tuesday night.
The Cadillac announcement is the latest in a series of new products and investments by the Detroit automaker, which emerged from bankruptcy last year and is expected to launch its initial public stock offering in mid-November.
With the Grand River investment, GM will have pumped more than $3 billion in 20 U.S. plants, creating or preserving about 7,350 jobs since emerging from bankruptcy 14 months ago.
"This is a huge boost to our manufacturing sector, that they have chosen to build a new small Cadillac here, and it's clearly great for Lansing. It's great for General Motors and it's great for Michigan," U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, told The Detroit News.
Akerson, who became CEO Sept. 1, will get a 45-minute tour of the Grand River plant before Thursday's announcement. He will be accompanied by Diana Tremblay, who is GM's vice president for manufacturing and labor relations.
The $707 million, 2.5 million-square-foot Grand River factory, on 111 acres, was built in 2001 and employs 1,133 workers who already build Cadillacs, including the CTS, CTS-V, SRX and CTS Wagon. It started production on Cadillac CTS Coupe and CTS Coupe V in June.
It was unclear Tuesday whether GM and the UAW are seeking a labor agreement for the Grand River plant similar to one at the Orion Township assembly plant.
Under that pact, specific to Orion Assembly, about 60 percent of hourly workers recalled to the idled plant to build two new small cars will get the traditional tier-one wage of $28 an hour with benefits. The remaining 40 percent will get a second-tier wage of about $14 an hour; the split will be based on seniority.
The Orion plant deal was struck to help GM make a profit on small-car production, and was key to its decision to add the Verano to the Buick lineup. GM plans to recall 1,550 salaried and hourly workers to the Orion plant, which was closed for retooling in November.
In my opinion, this is great news for the U.S. auto industry, especially for auto workers. This investment in American manufacturing is exactly what the economy needs.
This shows that GM is committed to manufacturing vehicles in the United States and especially committed to investing in new product lines. The Cadillac ATS, if as successful as the CTS, will be a big money-maker for GM. Investing in the luxury auto market is a great sign that GM is committed to making a profit, just in time for their IPO. If the IPO is successful, GM will be able to create even more jobs.
This seems like good news. I wonder how workers will interact knowing that some make double what others make.
ReplyDeleteHopefullt the ATS will be as good as the CTS. I'm surprised they have been this clear as to where the car will be built when a pre-production version hasn't even been shown yet.
Although I like how GM is committed to manufacturing in the United States, the ownership of the company will likely be in foreign hands within the near future. Currently the US government owns a majority share in GM but they are actively trying to auction shares off. I suppose we will see what happens in November. I made a post about this situation a while ago but on the other blog; here's the link:
ReplyDeletehttp://ksbautoindustry.blogspot.com/2010/09/us-government-wary-of-foreign-investors.html
That was Morgan Duff by the way...I can't add myself as an author.
ReplyDeleteWhere is GM exactly getting this $190 Million dollars from? Sure, they're pumping money back into the economy, but isn't it just from the billions of dollars of the bailout money the U.S. government spent on helping GM from plunging into bankruptcy. The reason I am apprehensive about GM's motives and its decision is that GM to me has always been a shaky company. Sure, in in the early and mid twentieth centuries GM dominated the market, but ever since, its been slippery slope to the junkyard. Will GM's investments stab us in the back, or will it help our economy?
ReplyDelete