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Adam Ford
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http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/06/flint_to_get_new_350million_ge.html
"This is going to happen," Williamson said. "That plant will go there."
Williamson's guarantee came even as GM officials avoided committing to specifics about where the 1.4-liter turbocharged engine is expected to be built.
The engine is expected to power the replacement for today's Chevrolet Cobalt, a car that is expected to be assembled by mid-2010 at GM's Lordstown, Ohio, plant.
A similar engine has been in use already outside North America, GM officials said.
GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson would not comment on Williamson's bold prediction for where the new plant would be located.
Before the mayor's comments, GM spokeswoman Sharon Basel said it was "too early to know" for certain where the plant -- pledged in the 2007 national contract between GM and the UAW --Â could be built.
"We are not offering a lot of details ... We've just begun discussing incentives with the state of Michigan and the city of Flint," Basel said.
UAW officials have said they expect the new engine to be built by members of Local 599, which once represented Buick City workers and which is losing another product -- the 3.8-liter V-6 engine --Â later this year.
Bill Jordan, president of UAW Local 599, which represents workers at Flint Engine North, said the new engine likely is one of three modules that the Flint area was promised as part of the 2007 UAW-GM 2007 contract.
Jordan said he was pleased with Tuesday's announcement by Wagoner and hopes it leads to something even bigger.
"We want as many jobs as we can (bring) into the city of Flint," he said. "It helps not only our workers, the union workers, but other businesses around."
Kristin Dziczek, director of the Program for Automotive Labor and Education at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, said Tuesday's announcements by Wagoner were generally very good news for Flint.
"It's probably the best day Flint's ever had on a bad GM day," Dziczek said.
Not only did the Flint Truck Assembly Plant survive on a day when GM announced it was closing four other truck and SUV plants, but the new engine work will make the area less dependent on the fate of trucks.
"(The engine is) not tied to the truck plant, which is a huge thing," Dziczek said. "None of the engines made in Flint go in trucks. That's a good thing."
The worst news to come out of Tuesday's GM shareholders meeting, she said, was the fate of the Moraine, Ohio, which builds SUVs plant and is one of several plants for which Flint Engine South produces engines for the facility.
GM President and Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said in a conference call Tuesday that the new engine to be made in Flint will power a replacement for the Cobalt.
The idea for the new vehicle is similar to what GM did for the Malibu, Henderson said, creating a high-demand vehicle with a reputation for good styling and extras -- especially for the price.
Malibu won the 2008 North American Car of the Year award and has been so popular with buyers that GM is adding production to the Orion Township plant that makes it.
Henderson said even if buyers give up bigger vehicles for those that are more fuel efficient they "still want the features they had before."
The Cobalt replacement will satisfy customers who want "better and better levels of fuel economy."
The vehicle likely will not be priced at the bottom of similar vehicles from competitors.
"We want to position ourselves squarely in the in the middle to (higher) range," Henderson said. |
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Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:42 pm |
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Ryan Eashoo
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This is good news!
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:07 pm |
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Demeralda
F L I N T O I D
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| The headline is misleading. GM has announced no such thing... only Don and his dementia believe it thus far. |
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I'm no model lady. A model's just an imitation of the real thing. - Mae West |
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Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:34 pm |
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Steve Myers
Site Admin
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| Great! |
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Steve Myers |
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Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:40 pm |
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Adam
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quote:
Demeralda schreef:
The headline is misleading. GM has announced no such thing... only Don and his dementia believe it thus far.
The full headline was "Flint to get new, $350-million General Motors plant, Mayor Don Williamson says" but I couldn't fit it all in. |
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Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:49 pm |
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Demeralda
F L I N T O I D
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| I didn't mean that you were trying to mislead, Adam. It was the same way in the paper. |
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I'm no model lady. A model's just an imitation of the real thing. - Mae West |
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Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:37 pm |
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