GM to Consolidate Four Powertrain Operations

General Motors announces a $200 million investment in powertrain development, a move that consolidates engineering work at four locations into one facility in Pontiac, MI.

A 138,000-sq.-ft. (12,820-sq.-m.) test wing will be added to GM’s Global Powertrain Engineering headquarters in late 2014 and absorb operations from Wixom, MI; Castleton, IN; and Torrance, CA.

Propulsion systems research operations in Warren, MI, also will move to the Pontiac location in 2015, and an already-in-progress relocation of hydrogen-fuel-cell researchers in Honeoye Falls, N.Y., to Pontiac continues.

“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,” says Sam Winegarden, GM vice president-Global Engine Engineering.

GM says the move allows for testing at high RPM, in brutal weather conditions and other extremes. The auto maker estimates 400 jobs will be added in Michigan after the consolidations.

GM also announces the relocation of its Performance Build Center in Wixom to the Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, KY, in 2014.