GM plans $1.8b US investment after Trump’s criticism

Orion Township, Michigan: General Motors Co. committed to investing $1.8 billion at plants in six states and to creating 700 new jobs, as the largest US automaker looks to ward off months of criticism by President Donald Trump.

The bulk of the new jobs will go to a factory in Michigan where GM plans to add production of a new fully electric vehicle. The carmaker plans to spend $300 million and add 400 workers at the plant in Orion Township, north of Detroit, where the Chevrolet EV will be built alongside the Bolt model. Plants in states including Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas will also boost their workforce.

“It’s a very exciting day, and this is another step as we continue to work to grow electric vehicles and the customer response to them,” Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

The moves may help assuage Trump, who’s attacked GM over its decisions announced in November to idle an Ohio plant and four other underutilised factories in the US and Canada. As part of a broader restructuring that’s also affecting salaried employees, the company is cutting or displacing upwards of 14,000 jobs.

-With assistance from Gabrielle Coppola and David Westin.