GM to Invest $20M in Powertrain Production

While considering an initial public offering filing, American manufacturer GM announced it will invest $20 million in its Bay City Powertrain facility in order to enable production of camshafts for the next generation Ecotec engine. This amount will bring new investment at the plant to $62.5 million this year.

“This specific investment results in 15 jobs at the plant, but the cumulative employment impact of these three investments is 113 people," said GM Manufacturing Manager Gerald Johnson.

GM’s Ecotec is the company’s most advanced four-cylinder engine, powering products like the Chevrolet Malibu and Equinox, the Buick LaCrosse and new Regal, and the GMC Terrain. With technologies like direct injection, variable valve timing and turbocharging, Ecotec engines are reliable, fuel efficient and deliver great performance, as GM says.

"The men and women of UAW Local 362 focus on quality each and every day, and our customers see that focus when they start up their GM vehicle," said UAW Local 362 shop chairperson Todd McDaniel.

As we previously reported, the GM IPO is expected to raise between $15 billion to $20 billion, making it the second largest public offering since Visa's in 2008 ($19.7 billion). The main goal is, according to sources, to sell a fifth of the Treasury’s 304 million shares, making the US a minority owner (the US now holds 61 percent of GM).

In addition to selling US' stock, GM might issue new shares and sell the ones owned by Export Development Canada and the UAW retiree healthcare trust fund. The IPO will be handled by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley, while the credit line is supported by several other banks, including Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs,UBS AG and Royal Bank of Canada.