The Auto Writer

2011 Chevy Cruze and 2012 Chevy Volt will benefit Michigan.

If all goes according to plan, by this time next year Michigan’s auto industry will be enjoying a slight boost thanks to a shot in the arm delivered to it by General Motors (GM). Last week, GM announced that four Flint-area production facilities would receive a $230 million investment from the automaker in a bid to help the company produce a pair of new Chevrolet models: Cruze and Volt.

Flint Engine South, Flint Metal Center, Flint Tool & Die and Grand Blanc Weld Tool Center have been identified as the four GM plants which will preserve five hundred jobs. Flint Engine South will benefit the most, receiving $202 million to produce the 1.4L engine generator to power the electric Volt and the 1.4L turbo-charged engine which will move the Cruze.

Volt Benefits Too

The three other plants will receive a variety of updates including refurbished press lines for Volt sheet metal stampings, stamping die sets for the Volt, as well as build the robotic weld tool cells that will assemble the Volt body at the Volt assembly plant. The Grand Blanc facility will also build the robotic weld tool cells for the body shop to assemble the Cruze in Ohio.

Over the past year, GM has gradually been rolling out its all-new Cruze in different markets. Last October, the Daewoo Lacetti Premiere was introduced to the South Korean market, a Cruze in everything but the name. GM followed that up with the introduction of the Chevrolet Cruze to markets in Egypt, China, South Africa, Europe and elsewhere while rolling out the Holden Cruze to serve Australia and New Zealand. Production for the North American market is expected to begin next Spring in Lordstown, Ohio.

Volt Production On Schedule

The Chevy Volt is no mystery to even to the indifferent consumer, benefiting from nearly two straight years of non-stop hype from GM brass. Sharing the same platform underpinning the Cruze, the Volt will have its own body, interior and, of course, a lithium-ion battery pack.

That pack will allow the Volt to travel nearly forty miles on pure electric power before the supplemental gas engine kicks in to extend the car’s range and partially recharge the engine. Last week, GM took a fleet of nine pre-production Volts on a three hundred plus mile road trip from Michigan to Pittsburgh in a bid to test the car under a variety of road and weather conditions. Of course, it was also a huge PR blast for the automaker, who is pinning its survival on the success of the Volt and subsequent Voltec (Volt derived) models.

Volt production is expected to begin in by November 2010 with the first cars showing up for retail sale before that Christmas.

Photo Credit: GM Corp.