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GM to pump $425M in Tonawanda Plant

by Thomas Hartley

Thursday, February 18, 2010
 
 The latest was announced Thursday morning when the automaker confirmed at a news conference that it is investing $425 million at the plant to manufacture a new generation of its Ecotec engine.

The program, which involves renovation of the River Road facility, new machinery, equipment and special tooling, will create nearly 470 jobs and result in the recall of employees currently on layoff, company officials said.

GM expects to produce 370,000 of the 4-cylinder Ecotec engines per year and have them ready for 2013 model year vehicles.

The Tonawanda investment is the major element of an overall $495 million that GM has earmarked for the local facility and its plants in Defiance, Ohio, and Bay City, Mich. In those states, 95 jobs are expected to be created, the company said.

The new Ecotec variation, which Gov. David Paterson called a “breakthrough on the international stage environmentally and economically,” will have “additional capabilities to improve fuel efficiency and improve performance through advanced design and by adding technology,” GM stated.

Paterson was among those in attendance for the announcement.

Plant Manager Steve Finch said the current edition of the Ecotec, which comes in 2.0-, 2.2- and 2.4-liter variations, has direct fuel injection and variable valve timing.

The 2.4 is used in the Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain, and was recently recognized by Ward’s Auto World magazine as one of the 10 best engines for North America in 2010.

Thursday’s announcement was the best news for the plant and its 651 employees since GM announced last March that a $100 million diesel engine project planned for the facility had been put off indefinitely.

More recently, in December, the last of the company’s big-block V-8 engines rolled off the line, resulting in 150 layoffs.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, said that GM’s plan to invest nearly half-a-billion-dollars on the new engine and create 550 jobs vindicated the 2009 taxpayer bailout of the automaker, which he supported,

In addition to Paterson and Schumer, the news conference featured high ranking GM officials, union leaders such as United Auto Workers International Vice President Cal Rapson and UAW Region 9 Director Joe Ashton, Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, and other local and state elected officials.

A large number of employees, including officers and shop committee members of UAW Local 774, interrupted the speakers many times with applause and cheers.