GM Says It Is Spending $7 Billion On Michigan

GM CEO Mary Barra on Tuesday.Photo: Getty Images (Getty Images)

General Motors said Tuesday that it would be spending $7 billion on four different sites in Michigan. That’s right, Michigan! Unlike some other automakers. If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look around you.

GM’s announcement included money for Orion Assembly, where the Chevy Silverado EV and electric GMC Sierra will be built; Lansing Delta Township Assembly, which makes the Chevy Traverse and Buick Enclave; Lansing Grand River Assembly, which makes the Cadillac CT4, Cadillac CT5, and Chevy Camaro; and also at another Lansing site, which will make the batteries that GM calls Ultium Cells.

This is vertical integration, a very old strategy for making cars that was out of fashion for decades until Elon Musk came along and said he wanted to do everything in-house and everyone called him an idiot, because he is. And then the chip shortage happened, and Ford and GM thought to themselves that maybe it isn’t the worst idea, in part too because electric cars are simpler to make compared to their internal combustion engine counterparts.

GM said that Tuesday’s announcement is “the single largest investment announcement in GM’s history.”

“These important investments would not have been possible without the strong support from the Governor, the Michigan Legislature, Orion Township, the City of Lansing, Delta Township as well as our collaboration with the UAW and LG Energy Solution,” said GM CEO Mary Barra. “These investments also create opportunities in Michigan for us to bring our employees along on our transition to an all-electric future.

“We are building on the positive consumer response and reservations for our recent EV launches and debuts, including GMC HUMMER EV, Cadillac LYRIQ, Chevrolet Equinox EV and Chevrolet Silverado EV. Our plan creates the broadest EV portfolio of any automaker and further solidifies our path toward U.S. EV leadership by mid-decade,” Barra added.

That’s right, Tesla, GM is coming for you. GM also said it would create 4,000 jobs in Michigan and that it could make up to 600,000 electric trucks annually when everything is up and running, though it did not say when that will be. GM sold a little under 800,000 trucks last year, to put that number in perspective. In total, GM did say that by 2025, it will be able to make a million EVs a year between plants in Tennessee, Canada, and Mexico. Also, in Michigan, too; I’m being told that GM has a minor presence there.