GM Invests $449M Into Next-Gen Volt Production

Cameron Aubernon
by Cameron Aubernon

General Motors announced Tuesday that it would invest $449 million into the two plants responsible for assembling the Chevrolet Volt in preparation for the next generation of the plug-in hybrid’s arrival in 2016.

The Detroit News reports $384 million will immediately go into the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant for body shop tooling, equipment and other plant upgrades, while the remaining $65 million heads for the Brownstown Township battery assembly plant for expanded production of GM’s advanced lithium-ion batteries, as well as any future technologies that come down the road. The investments are expected to last for the next two years, and would add 1,400 new jobs to both facilities.

As for what fruit the investment will bear, GM vice president of North American manufacturing Gerald Johnson announced the next generation of the Volt will roll into showrooms in 2016 as a 2016 model, with production slated to begin in the autumn of 2015. Though he didn’t go further into what the new Volt would bring to the table, a number of analysts said the PHEV would likely gain an improvement in range over the 38 miles currently provided in electric-only travel.

Further, two new vehicles will accompany the new Volt within the next couple of years, including the Buick LaCrosse — expected in mid-2016 — and an all-new large Cadillac sedan set to be the brand’s flagship that would begin production around the same time as the next-gen PHEV.

Cameron Aubernon
Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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  • Brianyates Brianyates on Apr 09, 2014

    GM might want to hang on to that$ 449 million to pay for the huge lawsuits that will result from their mobile ignition switch problems etc.

    • 28-Cars-Later 28-Cars-Later on Apr 09, 2014

      GM is exempt as of now from litigation, they are only responsible for paying for the actual recall.

  • Ronnie Schreiber Ronnie Schreiber on Apr 09, 2014

    I'm more interested in the other two yet-to-be-named cars that will be built there. I'm guessing that one of them will be the Cadillac flagship.

    • Carlson Fan Carlson Fan on Apr 09, 2014

      I'm interested in that too but not as much as what the 2nd Gen Volt will be. Looks like it is gonna be late 2016 until they are actually on dealer lots. The good news is GM is expanding its battery vehicle offerings.

  • George B George B on Apr 10, 2014

    I drove the Volt last fall. It has a better interior than I would have expected from Chevrolet, but rental car experience set my expectations pretty low. In the end the big problem is I don't really want an expensive Chevrolet hatchback with so much battery dividing up the interior space. To me the short stubby proportions of a hatchback are like automotive dwarfism. However, put the same quiet drivetrain in a more upscale sedan shaped car and I might consider it.

  • Achevroletman Achevroletman on Apr 15, 2014

    It is very easy to forget that the American consumers memory span is about as short as John Bobbits junk(post lorenaectomy).This is important to Volt sales figures, because as the price of fuel rises higher Volt sales increase, as fuel prices dcrease lower Volt sales decrease. Americans as consumers are very knee jerk and reactionayry. Later on this year I anticipate Volt sales will increase to new monthly highs as the MSRP has been lowered by 5000.00 dollars to 34995.00 for the base model. When GM starts Rebate incentivization later this year, and you take advantage of some of the discount pricing tiers that are available, you will be able to buy a Volt in the 22,000+++ range. The Volt is a great car at that pricepoint. In regard to the 449 Million investment in the future of the next generation Volt, it is absolutely the right path. Battery technology will only get smaller and more powerful. This will allow the Volt to become slightly larger, while at the same time greatly increasing the battery only range. Petroleum and petroleum based products will never be the future of our planet, as petroleum is finite and dirty. The supposed intelligencia here(in their own minds anyway) that constantly bang the drum about the government bailout of this industry and that industry are the ones with their heads in the sand. TARP loans have been paid back and made billions of dollars in profit for the government(not individually, but as a whole). The United States would have spiraled into a depression along with the rest of the world had those TARP loans not gone out. I very seriously doubt many of the commenters here experienced those dire times during the depression, but my Father did, and we should all be thankful our government took the actions it did.

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