GM GOING BIG IN TENN.

Spring Hill plant to build 2 new vehicles

General Motors says it is increasing to $350 million its investment in an assembly plant that will produce midsize vehicles in Smyrna.

NASHVILLE — General Motors announced Tuesday it is increasing to $350 million its planned spending to upgrade its assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., to produce two new midsize vehicles there.

The announcement adds $167 million to an announced $183 million expansion plan. The automaker’s investment is expected to “create or retain” about 1,800 jobs, the company said in a news release.

The new money is for two projects: an additional $ 40 million to the previously announced $183 million to support a midsize vehicle program, which is expected to create or retain about 1,000 jobs; and an investment of $127 million for a second midsize vehicle line that will create or retain about 800 jobs.

GM is investing in the huge Tennessee operation as sales of new autos recover from the 2008 plunge.

Automakers are on track to sell 15.8 million new vehicles in 2013, compared to fewer than 14 million five years ago.

GM said timing and product specifications for both programs will be announced closer to the start of production at the sprawling plant 40 miles south of Nashville that originally produced GM’s Saturn models.

Now officially called GM Spring Hill Manufacturing, the facility operates as a flexible-assembly plant, capable of building

a variety of vehicles on a range of platforms.

It is designed to supplement production for plants elsewhere that are being re-tooled for new products or to add production to meet spikes in sales of particular models. Chevrolet Equinox production began in Spring Hill in mid-2012. The vehicle is also assembled by GM in Canada.

The new programs will add to existing operations in Spring Hill. Since the demise of Saturn, employment at the plant has roller-coastered, at some points with only a maintenance crew to keep the plant up while it was idle.

The complex employed as many as 6,000 workers in the 1990s before GM discontinued the Saturn brand.

During its 2009 bankruptcy, GM jettisoned dozens of underused factories throughout the world but held on to the massive Spring Hill complex, one of the single largest industrial sites in North America.

GM Spring Hill contains almost 7 million square feet of industrial buildings on 2,100 acres. The footage under roof makes Spring Hill nearly seven times larger than the typical vehicle assembly plant. It was designed in the late 1980s to contain all operations of the Saturn small-car brand then being launched by GM to take on the Japanese subcompacts dominating the car market.

GM Spring Hill made Saturns from July 1990 until March 2007. By then, trucks and crossover vehicles like the Chevrolet Traverse were displacing car sales. GM produced the Traverse at Spring Hill from September 2008 until November 2009, when the Traverse line was moved to Lansing, Mich.

In Spring Hill, about 2,000 workers were idled and 800 transferred to other GM plants.

The Spring Hill complex assembles the Chevrolet Equinox as well as 4- cylinder, 2. 5-liter engines and operates a stamping plant, two polymer injection molding operations and a paint shop for bumper fascias.

Engines and components are shipped to GM assembly plants worldwide.

“Today’s announcement recognizes t he commitment of Spring Hill employees and leadership,” said Mark Reuss, president of GM North America.

In a statement released by GM, United Auto Workers vice president Joe Ashton thanked GM “for its confidence that the highly skilled members of UAW Local 1853 can successfully build midsize vehicles with high quality” in Spring Hill.

“The hard work and dedication of our members once again proves that we can competitively manufacture vehicles for the future right here in Tennessee.”

In previous re-toolings at Spring Hill, the state and local governments have provided GM with large taxpayer-financed incentives to help offset the costs, including employee training and tax breaks. Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development spokeswoman Laura Elkins said the state has not provided any new incentives but “any new jobs added will be covered by our previous training grant.”

ECD commissioner Bill Hagerty said the expansion “speaks to Tennessee’s strength in the automotive sector. Automotive manufacturers feel confidence in our workforce and rely on our infrastructure and superior geographic location. Tennessee is the center of the new Southern automotive corridor, and our department is working hard to make sure this sector continues to grow in our state.”