DELTA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — General Motors Corp. plans to build a $1 billion assembly and parts plant near Lansing, Mich., a GM official announced Tuesday.
"I want to confirm what in effect is the result of a lot of hard work and exceptional cooperation," Jerry Elson, GM's vice president and general manager of mid-size and luxury-car operations, said before officials symbolically broke ground amid farmland just west of Lansing.
Ed Foy, assistant regional director for the United Auto Workers, said the new plant is a welcome sign of the area's prosperity following the auto industry's decline in the 1970s and '80s.
He said he believes the UAW's flexibility and GM's willingness to compromise with the union made Delta Township a good location for the plant, which reportedly would employ about 2,800 workers and be complete in about three years.
GM has said it will spend $27 billion through 2004 to upgrade and replace its engine, transmission and auto assembly plants in the United States.
The company has told suppliers that the Delta Township plant will have the flexibility to make a range of models, including small cars and sport-utility vehicles made on small-car platforms, the Detroit News said.