GM Will Spend $2 Billion to Upgrade Plants, Increase Production in Ontario

In another bit of great news for Ontario and its auto workers, General Motors announced this week that it will spend $2 billion to refit and upgrade two plants in the province, including its CAMI Assembly facility in Ingersoll, Ontario which will start assembling electric vehicles. The plant will thus become Canada’s first electric-vehicle assembly plant.

GM will also expand production at its Oshawa plant, with assembly of the light-duty Chevrolet Silverado pickup (gas-powered) getting underway there in the coming months. GM currently builds the heavy-duty Silverado there, and the expansion will mean the addition of a third shift at the plant, which will take on 2,600 new workers.

The retool of the CAMI plant will happen on an accelerated schedule as well, with production of EVs at the plant expected to begin by the end of 2022. The Ingersoll plant will handle manufacture of BrightDrop electric delivery vans. Recall that BrightDrop is a GM-owned company that is getting ready to launch its Zevo 600 (formerly EV600) model, with the Zevo 400 (formerly EV400) to follow next year. Its customers to date include FedEx and Verizon.

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“Later this year, our CAMI plant in Ingersoll will begin Canada’s first full-scale electric vehicle manufacturing with BrightDrop. This partnership with the Governments of Ontario and Canada is helping GM build a more diverse, innovative and sustainable industry and EV supply chain for the future.”

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