General Motors Co. announced that it will transition its Spring Hill, Tennessee, plant to become the third vehicle manufacturing site for electric vehicles, joining the Factory ZERO in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan, and Orion Assembly in Orion Township, Michigan.
The all-new Cadillac LYRIQ will be the first produced at Spring Hill, while production of the Cadillac XT6 and XT5 will continue at the plant. The facility will build both traditionally powered Cadillac products and EVs.
GM is investing $2 billion in Spring Hill Manufacturing to accommodate the shift to electric vehicle production. The plant’s paint and body shops will undergo major expansions, and the general assembly area will receive comprehensive upgrades, including new machines, conveyors, controls and tooling. The renovation work is to begin immediately.
Production of the next-generation GMC Acadia will move from Spring Hill to Lansing Delta Township Assembly, representing an investment of more than $100 million in GM’s newest plant, located in Michigan.
GM is also investing $32 million in its Flint Assembly plant for future production of the heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups; $17 million in the Romulus, Michigan, propulsion plant to enhance automation and increase capacity of GM’s 10-speed truck transmission; and $3.5 million in the Orion Assembly and $750,000 at GM’s site in Brownstown Charter Township, Michigan. The Orion and Brownstown investments are related to additional production of the Cruise AV test vehicle at Orion Assembly.
“We are committed to investing in the U.S., our employees and our communities,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “These investments underscore the success of our vehicles today and our vision for an all-electric future.”
In the last 19 months, GM has committed to invest more than $4.5 billion at the three U.S. manufacturing sites to prepare those facilities for EV production.
In August, Cadillac introduced the LYRIQ to customers. The LYRIQ is based on GM’s next-generation, modular electric vehicle platform and driven by the Ultium propulsion system, which will allow customers to drive up to 300 miles on a full charge and have the option of DC fast-charging rates over 150 kilowatts and Level 2 charging rates up to 19 kW. The luxury crossover vehicle will have rear-wheel drive and performance all-wheel drive configurations and an enhanced version of Super Cruise, the industry’s first truly hands-free driver assistance feature, available on more than 200,000 miles of enabled roads and recently updated to include lane change on demand. Other new technologies available on the LYRIQ will include dual-plane augmented reality-enhanced head-up display and remote self-parking.
“LYRIQ was conceived to make every journey exhilarating and leverages more than a century of innovation to drive the brand into a new era, while rewarding passengers with a more personal, connected and immersive experience,” said Jamie Brewer, Cadillac LYRIQ chief engineer. “To do this we developed an architecture specifically for EVs. It is not only an exceptional EV, but first and foremost a Cadillac.”
