Detroit-based General Motors Co. has announced it will invest $75 million in its Toledo transmission manufacturing plant. Work on the upgrades is now underway.
The investment will increase the plant’s capacity to build 10-speed automatic transmissions that are used in GM’s full-size truck products including the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra.
“Through this investment, we continue to take steps to strengthen our current core business and build on our significant manufacturing presence in Ohio,” says Phil Kienle, GM’s vice president of North America manufacturing and labor relations.
Toledo Transmission Operations opened in 1916 and produced truck transfer cases and transmissions for four- and six-wheel-drive military trucks during World War II. Today, about 1,700 employees manufacture and assemble GM’s six-speed, eight-speed, and 10-speed rear-wheel drive and nine-speed front-wheel-drive transmissions that are used in Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles.
Since 2009, GM has invested more than $3.3 billion in Ohio. Separately, GM and LG Chem formed a joint venture, Ultium Cells, and together are investing more than $2.3 billion to build a new battery cell manufacturing plant in Lordstown, southeast of Cleveland, that will create more than 1,100 new jobs.
Construction of the facility is on schedule, and the new battery cell manufacturing plant will propel GM’s commitment to an all-electric future.
In 2019, GM paid more than $450 million in taxable wages to employees in Ohio, where the company has more than 3,800 employees.
In addition, GM is working with Lordstown Motors Corp. to support the launch of its Endurance pickup. The acquisition of Lordstown Motors by DiamondPeak Holdings Corp. is expected to close during the fourth quarter, and the company will be listed on Nasdaq. GM is investing $75 million in the company, which includes the sale of the former Lordstown Assembly plant and production equipment.
