General Motors to Test Waters with Niche Engine Plant in Michigan

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). GM Powertrain (Pontiac, Michigan), a division of General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) (Detroit, Michigan) will invest $10 million in a facility for a new low-volume production, high-performance engine operation. Plans are to refurbish part of an existing building in the GM Powertrain complex at 30240 Oak Creek Drive in Wixom, Michigan, for what the company calls a Performance Build Center. If the venture turns out to be successful and profitable, General Motors would be likely to expand the operation at some time in the future, but if not... nothing ventured, nothing gained

The first stage (of three stages) of construction is scheduled for completion by the end of January 2004, at which time limited production will begin. As the company gets a better feel for the scope of the market, the second and third stages of construction would be implemented. General Motors has not yet announced the operation's engine production volume, or which vehicles the engines would be intended for. Full production is expected to begin in mid-2005, providing that the first stages of production will have been profitable.

In November, GM's Holden opened a $400 million global V-6 engine plant in Port Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), which will produce 900 V-6 engines a day (or 240,000 a year), with the capacity to expand to 300,000 a year. The plant will supply, among others, GM de Mexico's assembly plant in Ramos Arizpe (Plant 1026035), for the Buick Rendezvous. Melbourne is the second global V-6 engine plant for GM, after the Flint South (Michigan) Engine Plant (Plant 1507318). The all-aluminum V-6 dual overhead camshaft, 24-valve, continuously variable cam phasing engine can be used for front-, rear- or all-wheel drive vehicles, and is compatible with hybrid electric applications.

GM Powertrain manufactures engines, transmissions, castings, and components for General Motors vehicles, as well as other automotive, marine, and industrial manufacturers.