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General Motors will invest $1.2 billion in its Fort Wayne, IN, assembly plant, an outlay expected to upgrade a majority of the 29-year-old large-truck facility.
The automaker says planned improvements include construction of a new paint operation and sealing works, expansion of the body shop, expansion and construction of new material-sequencing centers and modernization of the general assembly area.
Cathy Clegg, vice president-North America Manufacturing at GM, says the investment ensures the facility will continue producing light- and heavy duty Chevrolet and GMC pickups for years to come. Last year, the 3.03 million sq.-ft. (28 million sq.-m) plant built 332,744 regular and double-cab pickups, according to WardsAuto data.
GM declines to comment whether the upgrades will increase the facility’s production capacity. Fort Wayne, along with truck plants in Flint, MI, and Arlington, TX, are running three shifts with overtime to meet brisk demand for the automaker’s pickups and SUVs. Investment announcements for those facilities are expected soon.
GM previously announced investments in its Bowling Green, KY, and Fairfax, KS, car plants, both part of a $5.4 billion outlay over the next several years in North America to improve its competitiveness.
