GM Investing $328 Million in Flint Plant to Build Next-gen Full-sized Pickups

General Motors has recently announced that it will invest $328 million in its Flint, Michigan assembly plant to produce its next-generation GMC and Chevrolet full-size pickups. Those trucks are currently manufactured in Silao, Mexico, and were built in Canada before. However, the Flint Assembly Plant already builds the heavy-duty versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra so it’s perfectly suited for the job.

“This investment will allow us to continue building award-winning full-size pickups that offer better fuel efficiency than ever before without sacrificing features and functionality,” said Cathy Clegg, GM vice president of Labor Relations. “We remain committed to providing customers the utility and capability of our world-class full-size pickups.”

When the plan comes to fruition, all of the American giant’s heavy-weights will be built under the same roof, smoothing out the supply chain and lessening costs. The investment is part of a $2 billion plan that the automaker says will create or retain 4,000 jobs across 17 facilities over the next year and a half. Of the total, Flint will get about 150 of those jobs.

“Truck sales play an important role in the success of General Motors,” said Joe Ashton, UAW-GM Vice President. “We are confident that the next-generation of trucks will continue to be an important source of revenue for the company and jobs for our members.  Our members are ready to use their abundant talents to build high-quality trucks that deliver exceptional value to our customers.”

The move couldn’t come a moment too soon, as GM’s share of the US truck market has recently increased from 37.7 percent in the first five months of last year to 40.4 percent over the same period of time in 2011. The next-gen full-size pickups are expected to arrive in 2013, bringing substantial overall weight reduction and improved emissions figures.