GM engine plant to receive $295 million

General Motors’ Tonawanda Engine Plant near Buffalo, New York, will receive $295.9 million by 2018 for future engine production.

General Motors is to invest a combined $552 million at three operations in New York state and one in Ohio, according the automaker. But most of the investment, $333.7 million, will go toward three plants in New York.

Tonawanda Engine Plant near Buffalo will receive $295.9 million for equipment for future engine production, creating 67 new jobs and retaining 857.

A component facility in Lockport, New York, will get $31.86 million for future cooling components and another component facility in Rochester, New York, will get $5.9 million for future powertrain components. Lockport retains 320 jobs, while Rochester retains 20.

The projects are expected to be complete by December 2018. However, the company declines to reveal which engine programme is to benefit from the investment.

Inevitably, thoughts go back to an earlier statement by Mark Cieslak, GM’s full-size truck chief engineer, who has stated: “The 4.5-litre V8 is fully developed and ready. “[If we decided to offer it] we could launch it in a heartbeat.”

So has that moment of heartbeat arrived?

New York’s Empire State Development is providing up to $7 million in capital grants and tax credits in return of job and investment commitments to move the projects forward, according to a statement from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.

In Ohio, Parma Metal Center will receive $218 million for new presses, dies and subassemblies, GM said, retaining 140 jobs.

“The UAW’s negotiations with GM to reinvest in the Tonawanda, Rochester, Lockport and Parma plants have paid off not only for our members but also for those communities,” noted Cindy Estrada, the UAW’s GM vice president, in a statement.

Having developed an engine to the point that technically it is ready to launch, the thinking has to be that GM will not wish to waste such investments in time and resources when it is dire need of a new engine to compete with Fiat Chrysler Automotive and Ford Motor Company in powertrain for pick-up trucks. The 4.5-litre engine would take GM into the new world (for it) of compacted graphite (CGI) vee engine block components.