The Detroit-based automaker Wednesday announced it will consolidate 400 employees to its Global Powertrain Engineering Headquarters in Pontiac, which will also add a new $200 million, 138,000 square-foot test wing.
PONTIAC, MI- General Motors Co. consolidating its powertrain engineering is Michigan’s gain, according to officials.
The Detroit-based automaker Wednesday announced it will consolidate 400 employees to its Global Powertrain Engineering Headquarters in Pontiac, which will also add a new $200-million, 138,000 square-foot test wing.
Nearly 200 salaried positions are from leased, out-of-state facilities -- 114 from Torrance, Calif. and 80 from Castleton, Ind. -- will move to Pontiac. GM also plans to consolidate its Wixom Advanced Engineering Lab and GM R&D’s Propulsion Systems Research lab in Warren to the engineering campus in Pontiac.
The Performance Build Center, currently located at the Wixom facility, will also move to GM’s Chevrolet Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Ky., by the first quarter of 2014.
Sam Winegarden, GM vice president of Global Engine Engineering, said current employees of the facilities being consolidated will be offered the positions in Pontiac first or chances to transfer elsewhere. If the current employees choose not to accept the , then GM could add new employees, he said.
“This will allow us to work more efficiently and effectively and help us to bring our products to the market faster,” Winegarden said following the announcement at the engineering campus.
The engineering headquarters’ current 3,500 or so employees are responsible for engineering, development and testing for all of the propulsion technology for the Detroit-based automaker.
The $200 million investment is part of $1.5 billion GM plans to invest in North American facilities in 2013.
GM, according to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, is showing Michigan is a good place to bring jobs, particularly thanks to the state’s talent and public sector collaborating with one another to create a businesses-friendly climate.
“Michigan’s a place to be,” Snyder told reporters after the announcement. “It’s exciting to see the auto industry actually re-consolidate more in Michigan.”
GM also previously announced that work being performed at its hydrogen fuel cell facility in Honeoye Falls, N.Y., would be consolidated in Pontiac in mid-2013.
The newest announced powertrain consolidations are expected to be completed by mid-2015. And GM R&D’s Propulsion Systems Research Lab will be relocated to Pontiac during the second half of 2015.
Construction of the new test wing, which is used by engineers to bring advanced, fuel-saving powertrains to market faster and less expensively because they take less development time, will start next month. Completion is scheduled for the second half of 2014.
Once completed, this wave of powertrain engineering consolidation will allow GM to cut 640,000 square feet of floor space and eliminate three leased facilities in the U.S.
The center’s “state-of-the-art” facilities allow engineers to test engines under extreme conditions, including cold ambient temperatures, high RPMs, and repetitive starting and stopping, to assure world-class durability, reliability and quality.
U.S. Rep. Gary Peters also said he’s excited to see more jobs – particularly from California – coming to Michigan.
“This is certainly a very exciting day for the City of Pontiac and certainly Oakland County and the entire state of Michigan,” he said during a speech at the event.
Other public officials at the event included Pontiac Deputy Mayor Ken Glass, Pontiac City Council members and a representative from Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson’s office.
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