DETROIT — General Motors plans to invest more than $50 million at its Indiana parts plant to build drive unit castings for the upcoming Chevrolet Silverado EVs and other applications, the automaker said Tuesday.
The commitment will help GM prepare for its plan to launch 30 EVs globally and invest $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicle development through 2025. Renovations at the aluminum die casting plant in Bedford, Ind., will begin immediately. GM in February invested $7 million in the plant to add die casting capability.
GM plans to reveal the electric Silverado on Jan. 5 at CES. The automaker has not said when the electric pickup will go on sale.
This year, the Bedford plant began building electric drive unit castings for the 2022 Hummer EV pickup, which will be shipped to dealerships this month, and the 2024 Hummer EV SUV. Both vehicles, along with the electric Silverado, will be built at Factory Zero in Detroit.
“Our Bedford operation is one of the leading aluminum die casting facilities in the world and this investment is a testament of our confidence in the employees at Bedford,” Phil Kienle, GM vice president of North America manufacturing and labor relations, said in a statement. “This investment is another example of the company bringing along our work force in our journey to an all-electric future while we strengthen our current products.”
The 1 million-square-foot operation opened in 1942. It employs nearly 900 hourly and salaried workers who manage semipermanent mold and die casting processes that produce cylinder heads, cylinder blocks, transmission cases, structural components and drive unit housings used in Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles.