GM to invest US$20 million in Texas

TEXAS – General Motors Co. plans to invest US$20 million at its Arlington Assembly plant in Texas to build the next generation of its full-size SUVs expected to go into production by the beginning of 2020.

“We’ve been building trucks in Texas for more than 20 years, and our additional investment in Arlington Assembly is proof of our commitment and confidence in our Arlington team,” stated Gerald Johnson, GM executive vice president of global manufacturing, in a statement.

The Arlington investment is the latest in a US$4.2 billion string of plant investments from GM to prepare for new pickups and SUVs. The automaker is in the middle of correcting plant utilization to account for waning U.S. demand for sedans and small cars in favor of trucks and SUVs.

The automaker builds the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL and the Cadillac Escalade at the 250-acre facility. The automaker sold more than 282,000 full-size SUVs in the U.S. last year as it and other automakers lean more heavily on SUVs to boost profits to pay for investments in expensive gambles on electrification and autonomous vehicles.

Source: Detroit News