UPDATED 1: 15 P.M. DETROIT - General Motors Co. will invest $890 million at five factories to make its V-8 engines more fuel efficient, preserving or creating roughly 1,600 jobs. The automaker announced the investments today at factories in Bay City; Tonawanda, N.Y.; St. Catherines, Ontario; Bedford, Ind.; and Defiance, Ohio.
The spending, which has been in the works for a long time, will help GM meet government fuel economy standards that become fully effective in 2016.
Spokesman Tom Wilkinson said the investments will help the company boost the fuel efficiency of its pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and high-performance cars. The new engines will have aluminum blocks, which are up to 100 pounds lighter than the current cast-iron ones on some GM V-8s, and more efficient technology that injects fuel directly into the combustion chambers.
Factories in Tonawanda and St. Catherines will make the next generation V-8 engines, while the other plants will make engine components.
GM will invest $400 million in the Tonawanda plant, keeping 710 jobs, while it will put $235 million into the Ontario plant, securing about 400 jobs.
The Defiance foundry, which makes engine blocks, will get $115 million to save up to 189 jobs, while 245 jobs at the Bedford parts plant will be secured with a $111 million investment. The Bay City parts factory will see a $32 million investment, keeping over 80 jobs.
GM spokeswoman Kim Carpenter said the company has not determined yet how many of the 1,600 jobs will be new.
Any new jobs likely would be filled by people from a pool of about 4,200 laid-off workers.
The automaker would not give details of the fuel economy improvements or the new engines.
GM said in a statement that it has invested more than $2.3 billion at 22 U.S. and Canadian factories since it emerged from bankruptcy protection last July, restoring or creating more than 9,100 jobs.
