General Motors Chairman Dan Akerson announced in front of the Toledo Transmission Plant and its workers on May 10 that GM will invest $204 million into the facility to produce a new eight-speed transmission.

“The last time I was here one thing was perfectly clear,” Akerson said. “I was told about 100 times ‘We need more jobs’ and ‘We need more investments.’ When we made the decision to build an eight-speed transmission, I had heard of the outstanding people in this room as well as the outstanding work ethic that is consistently demonstrated with the quality of the product that’s produced. It had to be Toledo.

“Today’s development is not only good for the future of General Motors, it’s good for the future of Toledo and quite frankly it’s good for the United States of America.”

GM wouldn’t reveal which vehicle the new transmission would be used in due to competitive reasons, but said the eight-cylinder transmission would improve performance as well as fuel economy.

Akerson also said that the income brought in by the plant would combine to retain or bring in 240 jobs to the facility.

“The only way to keep our customers coming back is to produce great cars,” Akerson said. “It starts with Powertrain. We need to have precise, smooth and fantastic transmissions made in Toledo.”

“I wake up every day with a couple thoughts in my mind,” Ohio Governor John Kasich said. “The health of our children and families and that’s all tied to one single thing – moving Heaven and Earth to create jobs so that our families can be stronger.”

Since General Motors filed for bankruptcy in June of 2009, the company has begun its climb back. Akerson announced they have already invested $3.5 billion in facilities across the country to create nearly 9,000 jobs and plan over the next few months to invest $2 billion for 4,000 more jobs.

“This is not our last investment in America we will announce,” Akerson said. “We are committed to investing in manufacturing the infrastructure in this country, manufacturing jobs and the United States of America.”

“During the darkest times of General Motors when they faced a bankruptcy the quality of this plant never dropped,” said UAW Vice President Joe Ashton, who represents the GM workforce. “That in itself talks about the people that work in this facility and what it means to them. This isn’t only a job, this is something that they are proud of. They go to work every day to make the best transmissions in the country—if not the world.”

GM also announced that their sales were up 26 percent over the year’s first four months and that the company took market share last year for the first time in a generation. Last week they announced a $131 million investment in Bowling Green, Ky., to build the next Chevrolet Corvette.

GM hasn’t been the only one to see growth. Toledo Mayor Mike Bell announced a six percent growth in the city in its first three quarters.

“The city that we have, we’ve had some issues but we are trying to turn this place around,” Bell said. “We are starting to turn it around and come into the direction we need to come in. These type of announcements really help to get where we need to go. We will get there together.”

Tags: Automotive Industry, Dan Akerson, Economy, General Motors, Governor John Kasich, Mayor Michael Bell, Toledo

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 at 7:08 pm and is filed under Community, Economy.
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