GM Orion Assembly Plant Receives $245 Million for Mystery Vehicle Program

The latest announcement is a part of the $5.4 billion GM has announced it will invest in U.S. manufacturing over the next three years.

Orion Assembly is a breeding ground for manufacturing innovation, said GM North America Vice President of Manufacturing and Labor Relations Cathy Clegg.” It serves as a model for how to engage the entire workforce at all levels to achieve success”.

The unnamed vehicle will likely lead to rumors and speculation in the coming months, but GM promises that it’ll be a brand-new product, something the plant has “never seen before”.

It’s part of a $245 million investment there that will go toward launching an all-new vehicle program there.

There’s also no indication of what the new mystery model is, although it probably will not start production until well after the Bolt launches. GM will spend $160 million to upgrade Orion Assembly to support the Chevrolet Bolt EV, a 200-mile plus electric range vehicle that will cost about $30,000 after federal tax rebates.

The company’s initiative follows its announcement of a $160m investment for unveiling Chevrolet’s Bolt EV seven months ago.

UAW-GM continues to show the world that when you involve both workers and management in the process, workers win, management wins and our communities win..

These new vehicles planned by the General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) are going to be the second after the production of Chevrolet Bolt in the Orion Plant. Approximately $3.1 billion of the $5.4 billion has been identified, leaving $2.3 billion to be announced by year end.

Further, recent layoffs at the Orion plant, caused by lessening demand for the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano models as buyers become ever-more conscious of fuel economy, demonstrates that the plant needs to switch its output from traditional vehicles to greener, cleaner ones in order to keep GM’s pocket book healthy as well as its workers and the UAW which represents those workers. A spokesman said production would begin “in the next three to four years”. In total, these investments have created 6,250 new jobs and secured the positions of approximately 20,700 others.

The Orion plant was close to being shuttered in the wake of GM’s 2009 bankruptcy.

The Bolt EV is also expected to use a variation on the same next-generation Gamma platform that will underpin the updated Sonic.

Aside from the good news, there is also some bad news for the Orion Assembly plant.