GM will invest $148 million to repurpose flexible machining and assembly equipment at its Spring Hill manufacturing plant to build V8 engines to meet market demand, retaining approximately 200 jobs.
The investment will enable Spring Hill to quickly add capacity to build the Small Block 6.2L V8 engine in the popular truck and SUV segment. This will be the first time Spring Hill will build V8 engines.
The 6.2L truck engine is currently available in the Chevrolet Silverado Crew Cab, GMC Sierra Crew Cab, Yukon Denali, Yukon XL Denali and the Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV. The aluminum Small Block engine features a suite of technology for efficiency and performance, including Active Fuel Management (cylinder deactivation), direct injection and continuously variable valve timing.
The investments in Spring Hill are part of $709.4 million in investments GM has announced since ratification of the UAW-GM national agreement in 2015. Since 2010, GM has announced investments of more than $1.35 billion for the Spring Hill operations.
Equipment repurposing will begin immediately with Small Block 6.2L V8 production scheduled to begin during the fourth quarter of 2016. Having flexible equipment and machining is allowing GM to add capacity in a timeframe faster than the typical two to three years required to add a new engine line.
