DETROIT — A year ago this week, General Motors told workers at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly that their plant, which had been limping along on just one daily shift as demand for its aging sedans plunged, would shut down for good.
Instead, GM is giving D-Ham, as the closest plant to company headquarters is known, a key role in its road map to an electric future — along with $3 billion worth of job security for its work force.
"The auto industry as a whole is going toward EVs, and I know General Motors wants to be at the forefront of that," said John Hatline, a skilled trades trainer who has worked at the plant for more than three decades. "We are looking at a pretty viable future."