GM engine plant investment

General Motors is to invest $370m (£201m) to build a manufacturing plant for its four-cylinder engines in Flint, Michigan.

The plant will begin production in 2010 and will be the exclusive manufacturing facility in North America to produce the engine for the new Chevrolet Volt.

The investment includes construction of the 552,000ft² plant, machinery, equipment and special tooling to support production of the four-cylinder engines.

In addition to the $349m investment in the facility, GM will invest an additional $21m for vendor tooling to support the new Flint operations.

Construction on the facility is slated to begin immediately, with completion in 2010. The project will retain about 300 hourly jobs.

Two engines will be built at the facility, a 1.4-litre turbo for the Chevrolet Cruze and 1.4-litre naturally aspirated engine for the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV).

Within the new engine plant will be approximately 300 highly flexible stations that will allow assembly of multiple four-cylinder engine families without retooling.