GM pickup trucks at the Truck Homecoming September 14, 2013, to celebrate the launch of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks in Fort Wayne, Indiana. At least 1,500 GM pickup trucks — old and new — attended the event with a parade, truck show and awards.
General Motors said today that it is spending $1.2 billion in its Fort Wayne pickup plant for new technology that will be used in assembling light- and heavy-duty Chevrolet and GMC trucks. The investments in Fort Wayne are part of the $5.4 billion GM said at the end of April that it would invest in U.S. facilities during the next three years.
Trucks are among GM’s most profitable vehicles. Less expensive fuel prices, low interest rates, and a modest recovery in the U.S. economy have caused a resurgence in truck sales among the Detroit Three after they plummeted in 2008 as the Great Recession took hold.
Construction of a new pre-treat, electro-coat paint operation and sealing facility, an expanded body shop, expanded and new material sequencing centers, and upgraded general assembly area is expected to begin in June and take several years to complete.
Fort Wayne Assembly began building light-duty trucks in 1986. It is now a three-shift operation with approximately 3,800 employees who build light- and heavy-duty regular and double cab full-size trucks.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
