GM May Reinvest in Maryland


Factory Would Build Components for Hybrid Vehicles
By Sholnn Freeman and Amy JoyceWashington Post Staff WritersWednesday, February 1, 2006; Page D02
General Motors Corp. chairman and chief executive G. Richard Wagoner Jr. is expected to announce today that a transmission plant in White Marsh, Md., will build components for gas-saving hybrid vehicles, according to sources familiar with the plan.
GM would say only it is planning a "production investment" in the plant but would not say if it involves hybrid technology, how much money would be spent or how many jobs could be added. The sources, who did not want to preempt the official company announcement, spoke on the condition they not be named.

GM chief G. Richard Wagoner Jr. is expected to make an announcement today about a plant in White Marsh, Md. (By Pat Sullivan -- Associated Press)
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The plant employs about 440 workers, including 372 hourly employees represented by the United Auto Workers union. The plant builds Allison Series 1000 automatic transmissions for certain heavy-duty trucks, including the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. The transmission plant, which opened in 2000, is the only remaining piece of GM's scaled-down operations in the state.
Last year, GM closed its Baltimore assembly plant, which had built vans, including the Chevrolet Astro and the GMC Safari, since the 1980s. The assembly plant employed about 1,100 workers when GM ended production there in May. At its peak, the Baltimore van assembly plant employed 7,000 GM workers.
A GM spokesman said some of the workers have retired or moved out of the region for other GM jobs. Under terms of the UAW contract, workers laid off from the closure of the assembly plant are eligible for any new GM manufacturing job openings.
GM is reeling from an $8.56 billion loss reported last week. GM and Ford Motor Co. are in the midst of significant restructuring that will lead to cutting as many as 60,000 jobs and shuttering all or part of 26 plants across the nation. The automakers have been struggling against eroding market share, slowing sport-utility vehicle sales and lackluster vehicle introductions. The automakers have also complained of the escalating cost of health care and trouble managing high fixed costs, such as the salaries and benefits of UAW workers.
In the hybrid vehicle race, GM is playing catch-up to Toyota Motor Corp., the market leader. Toyota started with the Prius, a big hit so far in the U.S. market. Toyota also has hybrid versions of the Camry and Highlander. Toyota's Lexus brand has said it will build a sedan with a V-8 gas-electric hybrid engine, which is expected to be an industry first. Honda Motor Co. has three gas-electric hybrid passenger cars.
This spring, GM will begin selling the Saturn Vue Green Line SUV, which was displayed at last week's Washington Auto Show. The Vue will have a "mild hybrid" system, which is not as technologically advanced as competitors' models, but will make it the least expensive hybrid SUV at $23,000. GM says the Vue Green Line will get 20 percent better fuel economy than comparable non-hybrid Vue models.
GM has said it will have 12 hybrid models on the market by 2012, including its Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks and SUV models, such as the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade. Advanced transmissions and batteries are key components in hybrid technology.
Ford is also pushing hybrid technology. Chairman William C. Ford Jr. has pledged that Ford will boost hybrid production tenfold to 250,000 cars and trucks per year by 2010. With the new commitment, Ford would offer the option of a gas-electric engine on more than half of its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.
GM has not said how many hybrid vehicles it hopes to sell.