“This will be General Motors’ most technically advanced assembly plant,” GM President Mark Reuss said in a news conference at the facility, reports the Detroit Free Press. “That’s really amazing.”
The company’s first vehicle to come off the assembly line will be a pickup, whose production will begin in late 2021 and will be followed by a self-driving vehicle, Cruise Origin. Last week, GM unveiled a prototype for the driverless Cruise Origin for a ride-sharing service.
The really good news about this story is that the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant had been previously slated to close this month. Now it will be turned into a state-of-the-art facility fully dedicated to the assembly of electric vehicles.
“Through this investment, GM is taking a big step forward in making our vision of an all-electric future a reality,” said Mark Reuss, GM president, in a statement. “Our electric pickup will be the first of multiple electric truck variants we will build at Detroit-Hamtramck over the next few years.”
GM added that it was the state’s support for the project that was the key driver in keeping the Detroit-Hamtramck plant going. “The investment helps ensure that Michigan will remain at the epicenter of the global automotive industry as we continue our journey to an electrified future,” Reuss said, according to The Detroit News
The Detroit-Hamtramck plant currently has just one production shift in operation, building the Cadillac CT6 and the Chevrolet Impala sedans. The plant will be idled for several months, starting at the end of February so that GM can begin renovations for the production of electric trucks and SUVs, reports Reuters.
