GM Confirms Arlington Investment, New Jobs

American manufacturer GM announced today that its expansion plans are to continue, this time with a major investment in another of its most important production sites. Following the confirmation of the Impala production at the Detroit-Hamtramck and the creation of three shifts for the first time in the plant's history, GM now says the Arlington Assembly Plant will also be the recipient of more money, jobs, and revised SUVs.

GM will invest $331 million to purchase tooling and equipment needed to ready the lines for the production of the future generation Chevrolet Tahoes, Suburbans, GMC Yukons and Cadillac Escalades. The money is also to be used to expand the capacity of the assembly unit.

More money spent for upgrades and an increase in production also means that GM would be needing more workers. In all, 110 people will be hired and added to an existing workforce of 2,400 hourly and salaried employees.

This is the first major overhaul of the Arlington operations GM has done since 2001. The investment is part of the huge expansion program GM engaged in soon after it filed for bankruptcy in 2009. $2 billion have been promised this year alone for the upgrading of no less than 17 US facilities.

“This investment will allow us to continue building award-winning full-size SUVs that offer better fuel efficiency than ever before without sacrificing the features and functionality they’ve come to expect,” GM Manufacturing Manager Larry Zahner said Thursday. “We remain committed to providing customers the utility and capability of our world-class full-size SUVs.”