GM, UAW Unveil Plant to Produce Chevy Malibu Engines; Rebuilt Plant is in Spring Hill, Tennessee

Workers from General Motors (GM) and United Autoworkers (UAW) today demonstrated the workings of the new GM engine plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

There has been a GM engine plant at Spring Hill for 23 years, but the automaker recently spent $460 million rebuilding it and says it will add shifts to increase the 188 jobs already there to 450.

The plant will be the assembly site of the new Ecotec 2.5L engines to be used in the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu.

"This state-of-the-art engine plant builds on GM Spring Hill Manufacturing's reputation for producing high-quality, fuel-efficient 4-cylinder engines," GM manufacturing manager Arvin Jones said in a statement.

 "The combination of fuel efficiency and power of the Ecotec 2.5L engine in the 2013 Malibu make this a great value for consumers," Spring Hill complex manager Ken Knight said. "The Ecotec 2.5L direct injection engine is more fuel efficient than the previous 2.4L engine, has 16 percent more horsepower and the engine's noise intensity has been reduced by 40 percent."

Said UAW Local 1853 Chairman Mike Herron: "I am very proud of our entire Spring Hill Team for successfully launching the all-new Ecotec engine, which has great fuel efficiency and superior quality. Our hardworking and intelligent UAW workforce understands the importance of exceeding customer expectations, which has a positive, direct impact on the cost and quality of the products we produce here."

GM points to the plant as evidence of its good citizenship. The plant was rebuilt with environmental sustainability in mind. New area roads will be built using 250 million pounds of crushed concrete from the plant's old floor. High-efficiency lighting will help the plant save $800,000 annually, GM says.

Charities in the Spring Hill area will benefit from $25,000 in grants from the General Motors Foundation. The benefiting bodies are the James K. Polk Memorial Association, the Maury County Arts Guild, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, Southern Automobile Women's Forum, Maury County Imagination Library, and Tennessee Environmental Council.