GM to spend $5.4 billion on U.S. plant upgrades over 3 years

DETROIT -- General Motors said today it will invest $5.4 billion in upgrades to its U.S. manufacturing plants over the next three years.

The new investments are expected to create 650 new jobs, said Cathy Clegg, vice president of GM North America Manufacturing.

GM detailed only $783.5 million of the spending, including $520 million for new tooling and equipment at its Delta Township assembly plant in Lansing, Mich., where GM makes its large crossovers: the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave. Next generations of those vehicles are expected by sometime in 2017.

The overall investment -- about $1.8 billion per year -- is a deceleration of the company’s capital spending on its U. S. plants since its bankruptcy six years ago.

GM spent $16.8 billion since June 2009, an average of about $2.8 billion annually.

The announcement comes as GM gears up for contract talks with the UAW this summer. News of large plant investments and the prospect of new jobs and stability for current workers could help ease negotiations.

GM will invest another $124 million at a metal stamping plant in Pontiac, Mich., and $139.5 million on a new body shop and upgrades to a stamping plant in Warren, Mich.

GM said it would disclose details of the remaining $4.6 billion investment in coming months.

“These investments are evidence of a company on the move, strategically investing in the people, tools and equipment to produce cars, trucks and crossovers that are built to win in the marketplace,” GM North America President Alan Batey said in a statement.

Of the $16.8 billion spent since bankruptcy, $11.4 billion has come since GM’s last labor agreement in 2011. Those investments have created 3,650 new jobs, GM said.