GM Has No Plans To Build All-New Factories For Electric Vehicles
General Motors doesn’t plan to build or close any plants and will use its existing manufacturing footprint as it transitions to electric vehicles.
GM’s top manufacturing executive said the automaker will convert some factories to build only EVs and others to build both electric and gasoline vehicles.
Gerald Johnson, GM’s executive vice president of global manufacturing and sustainability, revealed details about the automaker’s manufacturing strategy in an interview with Automotive News, basically admitting that General Motors has no plans to build all-new factories for EVs.
“I’m sure we will do more all-EV plants, but we assess every plant based on its infrastructure and what it can handle and what we can convert, [refurbish] or maybe even just expand slightly so that we can accommodate what we need for EV production and for ICE production.”
He said he does not expect GM to close any facilities, adding that the carmaker’s goal is to efficiently use its existing footprint.
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“We’re trying to keep that flexibility and that bandwidth to be able to flex up EVs or ICE as we move forward, knowing that the transformation is still going to happen over time,” Johnson noted, adding that GM currently has “the right bandwidth” to support the balance between EV and ICE production.
Johnson delivered these statements at Flint Assembly, where GM plans to invest more than $780 million to build next-generation gas-powered heavy-duty trucks for Chevrolet and GMC.
GM previously converted the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant in Michigan into Factory Zero, its first EV-only plant, where the GMC Hummer EV and SUV are made – soon to be joined by the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV.
The automaker will also begin building electric pickups at Orion Assembly in Michigan after the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV go out of production later this year. In addition, GM is building the electric Cadillac Lyriq electric crossover in Spring Hill, Tennessee, alongside the gas-powered XT5 and XT6 crossover.
Unlike GM, Ford is building an all-new electric vehicle assembly plant as part of the $5.6 billion BlueOval City mega campus in Stanton, Tennessee. The company will build future electric F-Series models there – including the so-called Project T3 – alongside batteries made under the BlueOval SK joint venture with SK On.