GM Invests $23.5 Million for Electric Components in Baltimore

Builds on January Pledge of $246 Million for Electric Drive Production

News provided by

Sep 29, 2010, 09:30 ET

BALTIMORE, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors said Wednesday it will invest $23.5 million for additional production of vehicle electrification components on the site of the Baltimore Transmission Plant, where the first electric motor manufacturing facility in the U.S. will be operated by a major automaker.

The new investment will create 11 job openings to be filled in accordance with the UAW-GM National Agreement.

"This will allow us to strengthen our core electrification components expertise," said GM Manufacturing Manager Arvin Jones. "We'll have more to say about specific products later."

The investments in the White Marsh facility will be made with the assistance from the Recovery Act funding announced in August 2009 by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Wednesday's announcement is in addition to the $246 million investment announced in January to build a high-volume electric drive production facility for GM's next-generation rear-wheel drive Two-mode Hybrid system. The addition of electric motor production, to begin in 2013, will take place in a separate facility to be built on the same site as the Baltimore plant. The January investment will create about 200 jobs in three states, including Maryland.

Designing and manufacturing electric motors at Baltimore Transmission allows GM to more efficiently control the design, materials and production processes as well as reduce costs and improve performance, quality, reliability and manufacturability.

About General Motors – General Motors, one of the world's largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 208,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in more than 120 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 31 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, FAW, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corporation. More information on the new General Motors can be found at www.gm.com.

SOURCE General Motors