Don't write off the internal combustion yet, announces an article in Forbes, after General Motors Co. announced nearly a billion dollars in new manufacturing investments for the production of new internal combustion (ICE) engines.
GM announced plans to invest $918 million in four U.S. plants in Flint, Mich., Bay City, Mich., Rochester, N.Y. and Defiance, Ohio. The company reported $854 million will prepare the plants to produce the company’s sixth generation Small Block V-8 engine. The remaining $64 million will go to its Rochester and Defiance facilities to produce castings and components for EV production, GM said in a press release.
The investment breaks down as follows:
$579 million to prepare Flint engine operations to assemble GM’s sixth generation family of Small Block V-8 gas engines along with the related block, crank and head machining. The facility will continue building the 3.0L turbo-diesel during the renovations.
$216 million to prepare the Bay City facility to build camshafts, connecting rods and block/head machining supporting future V-8 production at Flint Engine Operations. Currently, the plant builds engine components for Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles.
$55 million in total investment at the Defiance facility, with $47 million earmarked to prepare the facility to build block castings for future V-8 engine programs and $8 million set aside to build a casting development cell for castings that support future EV strategies.
$68 million will go to Rochester with $12 million being used to prepare the facility to build intake manifolds and fuel rails for future V-8 production at Flint Engine Operations. Of that amount, $56 million will go toward battery pack cooling lines for EV production.
"Today we are announcing significant investments to strengthen our industry-leading lineup of full-size pickups and SUVs by preparing four U.S. facilities to build GM’s sixth generation Small Block V-8 engine,” said Gerald Johnson, GM executive vice president of Global Manufacturing and Sustainability in a statement.
He added, “The teams in Rochester and Defiance are also leading our transformation to an all-electric future. Their flexibility to build components for both internal combustion and electric vehicles highlights why our manufacturing team is second to none.”
The investments in ICE engines will support GM’s new line of pickup trucks and SUVs, a large profit center for the automaker that will provide cash and capital to put toward its EV future.
