Plant Progressing

Construction continues at a fever pitch at Global Engine Mfg. Alliance LLC's (GEMA's) Dundee, MI, manufacturing plant, where more than 50% of the crankcase line has been installed in the first of two plants. Workers will begin erecting steel at the second plant within the month.

The first plant will be ready for salable production next spring, with ramp-up to full production likely next summer. Employee ranks have grown to 59 from nine in February, or a little more than 10% of total employment for both plants.

GEMA President Bruce Coventry says relations between the Global Engine partners remain solid, even though the main equity alliances with DaimlerChrysler AG and its Asian partners have fallen apart.

He says Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. managers remain in place at the Dundee plant helping to prepare the facility for production, while working alongside Chrysler Group and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. engineers designing the engine.

“They (Hyundai) are long-term committed to this project,” Coventry says. “Contractually there is no pulling out of it.”

Coventry disputes recent statements from a Hyundai insider that the auto maker has decided not to source 4-cyl. engines for its Alabama plant from Dundee. Hyundai plans to build a V-6 plant next to its Montgomery, AL, assembly facility, as it plans to produce V-6-powered vehicles in the U.S.

The Alabama engine plant will not have the capability to build 4-cyl. engines, which Hyundai also will offer in the Sonata produced next door.

It is unclear how many 4-cyl. engines will be needed to fulfill the requirements of the U.S. market. If demand for the smaller engines surpasses expectations, Hyundai likely would source them from Dundee, Coventry says.

Additionally, when the currency exchange rate between the Korean won and the U.S. dollar begins to stabilize, Hyundai likely will take a more serious look at U.S.-built engines, rather than shipping them from South Korea.