Union hating Right to Work proponent, and likely one-term, Republican Governor Rick Snyder at the press conference where GM announced it would consolidate some powertrain engineering in Pontiac, Michigan.
General Motors will close three leased facilities in Wixom, Michigan; Castleton, Indiana, and Torrance, California and consolidate their powertrain engineering activities into a Global Powertrain Engineering Center in Pontiac, Michigan. GM R&D’s Propulsion Systems Research lab in Warren, Michigan will also relocate to the Pontiac campus, including its electric motor engineering.
As part of the revision, GM will invest $200 million in Pontiac, a bankrupt city under state receivership, to build a new 138,000 sq.-ft. test wing, which is expected to be completed during the second half of 2014. GM previously announced that work being performed at its hydrogen fuel cell facility in Honeoye Falls, New York would be moved to Pontiac in mid-2013.
“These moves will help our entire Powertrain team work more effectively across the organization to develop the powertrain technologies we need to build the world’s best vehicles for our customers around the world,” claimed Sam Winegarden, GM vice president of Global Engine Engineering.
In addition, the Performance Build Center, currently located at the Wixom facility, will move to GM’s Chevrolet Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky by the first quarter of 2014 with an unknown effect on its offerings. (Read AutoInformed on GM Moves Performance Build Center to Corvette Plant)
GM said that the new test wing is will be used by engineers to bring advanced, fuel-saving powertrains to market faster and less expensively. The 450,000 sq.-ft. facility is claimed to be one of the largest and most technically advanced powertrain development centers in the world.
The Torrance Advanced Technology Center’s work on electric motor and power electronics engineering development will be transferred to Pontiac by the end of 2014. GM considers these technologies key to the future of sustainable transportation.
Heavy-duty transmission, power electronics, hybrid and battery electric drive unit development work done at Castleton will be transferred to Pontiac by mid-2014. GM’s work on heavy-duty transmissions is core to its pickup truck development where it is trying to catch market leader Ford. (Read AutoInformed on GM to Face F-Series, Ram with New 2014 Silverado, Sierra Pickups)
GM R&D’s Propulsion Systems Research Lab will be relocated to Pontiac during the second half of 2015. This work is claimed to be critical for providing industry-leading technologies for GM’s engines, transmissions, and hybrid systems.
Having completed a consolidation of seven southeastern Michigan Powertrain Engineering facilities in 2008, this next wave of Powertrain Engineering consolidation will allow GM to cut 640,000 square feet of floor space and eliminate three leased facilities in the United States. There are about 3,500 people currently working at the Pontiac Powertrain headquarters. When all the moves are done there will be about 3,900, so there are about 400 new jobs for the Pontiac location.
