General Motors confirmed on Friday it will spend $300 million in a suburban Detroit assembly plant, bringing 400 jobs to build a new Chevrolet electric vehicle.
The largest U.S. automaker has come under criticism from US President Donald Trump in recent days for its decision to put an end to production at its Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant previously this month.
GM officials stated the announcement was prepared well before Trump’s series of angry GM-related tweets that started on Saturday. Trump called GM CEO Mary Barra on Sunday to prompt her to reverse the decision to close production at the Ohio plant, which is in a significant state for the 2020 presidential election. He again targeted the automaker in a speech in Ohio on Wednesday.
Barra, speaking to reporters following an event at the plant in Orion Township, outside Detroit, with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer declaring the investment, stated GM is focused on making sure that all of the hourly workers at Lordstown find new jobs at other plants. But she has shown no sign that it will reverse course and restart the Lordstown plant.
She refused to state if she thought there was more tension between the automaker and Trump.
“We want to create jobs, good paying jobs,” Barra stated, saying her discussions with Trump had a “business focus.” She stated GM needs to remain “strong” in order to continue adding jobs.
