Although General Motors turned down Ohio $56 million incentive package to keep the doors of the automaker’s Moraine, Ohio SUV plant open, GM has accepted an incentive package from the city of Flint, Michigan. The deal will see GM building a new global engine in Flint.
Earlier this year, Flint’s city council passed a measure that will give GM a considerable tax break, although the final figures have yet to be published. GM requested the tax break in order to invest $370 million in a new engine plant — which will create 300 new jobs — slated to produce GM’s new 1.4L powerplant. The new engine will be used in the upcoming Chevrolet Volt and Cruze.
GM will invest $349 million in the engine plant itself, with another $21 million being dedicated for support operations, such as vendors and tooling.
However, GM’s turbulent past with Flint – as seen in the 1989 documentary “Roger & Me†— has some residents uneasy about the tax breaks. “A lot of people still feel…General Motors owes us more than just a couple hundred jobs,” Councilman Jim Ananich told The Detroit News. “I understand what people feel — I still sometimes have those feelings –but as competitive as the market is and the trouble General Motors is having, we have to help them with whatever we can do to keep them competitive.”
The plant will be up and running by 2010, with an initial production capacity of 800 engines per day.
