GM to invest in local DMAX plant: Here’s what we know now

GM will invest $700M in 3 Ohio plants, including Moraine location

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

General Motors will invest in its DMAX factory in Moraine and two other Ohio plants as it engages in talks to sell its Lordstown complex to a Loveland-based producer of electric trucks, the automaker and others announced Wednesday.

A hoped-for 450 new Ohio jobs “is certainly good news,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said.

GM announced manufacturing investments in Ohio totaling some $700 million, expanding operations in Moraine, Toledo and Parma, creating approximately 450 new manufacturing jobs.

RELATED: Lessons learned: How Lordstown might benefit from Moraine's GM experience

Some of those new jobs and a portion of that investment will go to the DMAX plant off Dryden Road in Moraine, GM spokesman Dan Flores said. He declined to precisely break down how the investment will be made, but he said that most of the new jobs will go to the Toledo plant.

TY GREENLEES / STAFF

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GM said it is expanding diesel engine production at DMAX for all-new heavy-duty pickups, which go on sale later this year. GM is the 60 percent owner of the DMAX diesel heavy-duty truck engine business, with Japanese truck maker Isuzu holding the 40 percent position.

Flores said Moraine-built DMAX engines will be an option for the new, refreshed GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado.

RELATED: 5 things to know about the history of GM in Dayton area

The Dryden Road plant has 670 hourly workers and nearly 130 salaried workers today, according to GM.

Toledo Transmission will expand production of the company’s new 10-speed automatic transmission for trucks and SUVs. And the Parma Metal Center will expand production of stamped parts and deploy laser cell welding technology, GM also said.

Regarding Lordstown, DeWine said it is too soon to celebrate news about a possible rejuvenation of the plant, but he expressed guarded optimism.

A truck production contract between Loveland’s Workhorse Group Inc. and the U.S. Postal Service is a key to making a deal happen in Lordstown, as are talks with the United Auto Workers (UAW), which represented GM workers in Lordstown and is suing GM for a new vehicle to produce.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine speaks on the cellphone with GM CEO Mary Barra, Wednesday, May 8, 2019, at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, about the company’s plans to sell its shuttered factory in Lordstown, Ohio, to a company that builds electric trucks. DeWine, a Republican, said he wanted to hear more details about the plan, including the reaction of the UAW, but said the potential project was better than the plant sitting idle. (AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins)

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“This is a step, but we have a long way to go, and things have to fall in place,” DeWine said.

The UAW must “make a decision about which way they want to go with regard to this,” DeWine also said.

The UAW said it is holding fast to its position that GM should assign a vehicle for regular production to Lordstown.

“A federal lawsuit filed by the UAW over the closing of the Lordstown, Baltimore and Warren facilities is still pending, and the UAW will continue its effort to protect the contractual rights of its members at these locations,” the union said in a release.

RELATED: 5 things to know about Workhorse, the company buying Lordstown plant

Workhorse Group Inc., the possible buyer of the Lordstown plant, makes electric pickups and drone software, according to its website.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted praised Workhorse, saying he first visited the company “a long time ago.”

“We will be as aggressive as we can be to make sure we are playing our role,” Husted said.

But he echoed DeWine’s caution, saying, “There are a lot of things that have to happen before we actually call it a victory.”

DeWine and Husted hastily called a news conference after President Donald Trump tweeted on the matter mid-day Wednesday.

“GREAT NEWS FOR OHIO!,” Trump tweeted. “Just spoke to Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, who informed me that, subject to a UAW agreement etc., GM will be selling their beautiful Lordstown Plant to Workhorse, where they plan to build Electric Trucks. GM will also be spending $700,000,000 in Ohio…”

A second tweet added: “….in 3 separate locations, creating another 450 jobs. I have been working nicely with GM to get this done. Thank you to Mary B, your GREAT Governor, and Senator Rob Portman. With all the car companies coming back, and much more, THE USA IS BOOMING!”

“We remain committed to growing manufacturing jobs in the U.S., including in Ohio, and we see this development as a potential win-win for everyone,” Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO, said Wednesday. “Workhorse has innovative technologies that could help preserve Lordstown’s more than 50-year tradition of vehicle assembly work.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown said Trump’s tweet was the first he had heard of a possible deal.

GM co-owns the Moraine DMAX plant, which has about 800 workers in Moraine. DMAX is a joint venture, 60 percent owned by GM, 40 percent owned by Isuzu Diesel Services of America, Inc. THOMAS GNAU/STAFF

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“We saw the tweet, but you can’t cash a tweet,” he said, saying workers “need paychecks.”

Brown said Trump’s tweet raised “high expectations about how many jobs may be created…we want to know where they are and how much they will pay. We don’t know any more than you do at this point.”

GM announced last year that it would shutter or otherwise divert from future production five North American plants, including the Lordstown plant.

Today, full-size trucks and SUVs are ascendant, and the Lordstown plant has been doomed by weak demand for sedans — such as the Lordstown-produced Chevrolet Cruze.

Industrywide, compact cars make up less than 10 percent of the market, GM spokesman James Cain said.

A message seeking comment was left for leaders of IUE-CWA Local 775, the unit which represents hundreds of workers at the DMAX plant, off Dryden Road.


General Motors and Ohio

1908: General Motors founded.

1909: The Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co (Delco) is founded in Dayton by Charles Kettering and Edward A. Deeds; later is acquired by GM.

1915: Kettering patents his most notable innovation, the electric self-starter for the automobile.

1950s: Frigidaire, owned by GM from 1919 to 1979, maintains a massive assembly plant in Moraine.

1998: A 54-day strike by Delphi against GM begins at a Flint, Mich. metal stamping plant. The dispute is seen as a prelude to a corporate divorce between GM and Delphi. It is the longest GM walk-off since a 1970 national strike.

1999: GM spins off the Delphi parts-manufacturing company into an independent company.

2000: GM employs 26,610 Ohioans at eight manufacturing sites in Ohio

October 2005: Delphi files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

June 2008: GM announces that it will close its SUV assembly plant in Moraine.

December 2008: The last SUV rolls off the Moraine assembly line.

June 2009: GM files for Chapter 11.

2019: GM announces closure of its Lordstown assembly plant and its West Chester Processing Center. Four GM plants and one distribution facility remain with 4,588 employees.

Source: Dayton Daily News archives, General Motors, Ohio History Central

General Motors workforce in Ohio

Toledo Transmission plant - 1,688 employees

Parma Metal Center - 1,344 employees

DMax diesel engine plant, Moraine - 796 employees

Defiance foundry - 656 employees

Cincinnati Parts Distribution - 104 employees

Source: General Motors

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