GM said it is spending $148 million to start building V-8 engines at a plant in Tennessee.
GM Spring Hill plant in Tennessee DETROIT, MI - General Motors is investing $148 million at its Spring Hill, Tenn. plant to re-purpose the facility to add V-8 engines to production there.
The move retains 200 jobs at the Spring Hill manufacturing site, where GM currently builds the Ecotec 2.0-liter and 2.4L four-cylinder engines, and also plans to begin assembly of the Cadillac XT5 and GMC Acadia this spring.
With the investment announced Thursday, GM adds capacity for production of its Small Block 6.2L V-8 that goes under the hood of its Chevrolet Silverado Crew Cab, GMC Sierra Crew Cab, Yukon Denali, Yukon XL Denali and the Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV models.
GM also builds the 6.2 L V-8 at sites in Tonawanda, N.Y. and St. Catharines, Ontario.
The latest investment in Tennessee is part of $709.4 million GM has announced for the site since ratification of a new, four-year contract agreement with the UAW last year.
The company will begin re-purposing the Spring Hill site immediately, and production of the Small Block V-8 will begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
GM said the move is in response to market demand. Americans have been gravitating toward larger vehicles such as trucks and SUVs as fuel prices have dropped and the economy has generally improved.
Last year, as U.S. new vehicles sales hit record levels, sales of passenger cars dipped 2 percent to 7,740,912 units, while sales of light trucks grew 13 percent to 9,729,587 units.
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.