UAW Local 5960 member Kimberly Fuhr inspects a Chevrolet Bolt EV during vehicle production on May 6, 2021, at the General Motors Orion Assembly Plant in Orion Township, Michigan.
Steve Fecht for Chevrolet
DETROIT — General Motors plans to invest $4 billion in three American assembly plants, including adding production of two popular vehicles that are currently built in Mexico.
The Detroit automaker announced the plans Tuesday, as there have been few indications of progress in trade talks between the Trump administration and Mexican leaders. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump implemented 25% tariffs on imported vehicles and 25% tariffs on many auto parts imported into the U.S.
GM said the investment will add assembly of the Chevrolet Blazer and Chevrolet Equinox that are currently produced in Mexico to two other plants in the U.S. and convert a large idled plant in Michigan — formerly expected to build all-electric trucks — to make gas-powered vehicles.
The investment and moves will likely be hailed as a win for Trump’s policies and automotive tariffs, which took effect for imported vehicles in April and many auto parts in May.
“We believe the future of transportation will be driven by American innovation and manufacturing expertise,” said GM CEO Mary Barra said in a release. “Today’s announcement demonstrates our ongoing commitment to build vehicles in the U.S and to support American jobs. We’re focused on giving customers choice and offering a broad range of vehicles they love.”
The new investment will give GM the ability to assemble more than two million vehicles per year in the U.S., according to the automaker.
GM has been analyzing its North American production footprint for months amid the tariffs, with executives saying they weren’t going to make any decisions — instead taking a “wait and see” approach — until they got further clarity on the regulatory environment, including the auto levies.
GM’s stock price in 2025.
GM CFO Paul Jacobson said late last month during a Bernstein investor event that the tariffs wouldn’t probably be “as bad as the market reacted to.” He said potential trade deals with other countries and the automaker’s ability to mitigate some costs of the tariffs were promising signs.
The Detroit automaker previously said it expected to be able to offset between 30% and 50% of the North American tariffs without deploying any capital in the short-term.
GM CEO Mary Barra during the Bernstein event said the company is “going to see us be very resilient and, again, strengthen our business as we move forward — in some cases, seize opportunities where the vehicles are so successful.”
Those opportunities now appear to include pulling back additional spending on electric vehicles. The Orion Assembly plant in suburban Detroit, which will be retooled for gas products, was expected to be its second EV-exclusive plant in the U.S.
