Lear Corp. is planning to set up a new manufacturing plant and create hundreds of new jobs on Detroit’s east side after landing a contract to supply seats for General Motors’ electric vehicles.
The seating and electronics supplier said the just-in-time seating manufacturing plant is planned for the site of the former Cadillac Stamping Plant. It will support the company’s supply to GM’s battery electric vehicles that will be built at Factory Zero, Lear confirmed.
“We are excited to be supporting GM’s vision of moving to an all-electric future, and even more excited to be supporting that vision here in Detroit,” the company said in an emailed statement to Crain’s Detroit Business, a sister publication to Automotive News. “The facility will be one of our most energy-efficient plants in North America, and not only create hundreds of new jobs, but will be another important step forward in the redevelopment of Detroit’s eastside neighborhood.”
Lear CEO Ray Scott said during an earnings call Friday that the company is well-positioned for the acceleration of electric vehicles and that more than half of its new business this year has been to supply EVs.
“(We are) excited about the new plant that we are building in Detroit to supply seats for General Motors battery electric truck programs,” Scott said, adding that the company won contracts to supply both the Hummer EV pickup and Hummer EV SUV.
Lear declined to provide further details.
The building that will house the plant is being developed by Riverside, Mo.,-based NorthPoint Development LLC, which said last year it would demolish the blighted 916,000-square-foot Cadillac Stamping Plant and replace it with a new 682,000-square-foot building, Crain’s reported. The project was estimated to cost $47.9 million and netted millions of dollars in state and local incentives.
The Albert Kahn-designed industrial building at 9501 Conner St. was constructed in 1925 for Hudson Motor Car Co. GM bought it in the mid-1950s and announced its closure in 1986. The blighted building was acquired by the city in 2018.
Demolition began in March. The new development is expected to be complete by June 2022, according to a City of Detroit news release from this spring. The city said the project is expected to create 450 jobs, for which Detroit residents would be prioritized.