DETROIT — General Motors plans to build four electric vehicles at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly by the end of 2023, including battery-powered versions of the GMC Sierra and Cadillac Escalade, according to a prominent forecasting firm.
The plant, which had been scheduled to close in January, will remain open under the automaker’s newly ratified contract with the UAW. The deal states that GM has agreed to invest $3 billion and use the plant to build electric pickups and vans.
Production of those vehicles is scheduled to start in 2021 and will be followed by the electric Sierra and Escalade in 2023, LMC Automotive told Automotive News. LMC is a closely watched provider of industry sales and production forecasts.
GM declined to comment Thursday on its future product plans.
Given the platform and size, LMC expects the van built at Detroit-Hamtramck to be full-size, possibly similar to the Ford Transit.
The plant’s full capacity today is 160,000 vehicles per year, but after the conversion to EV production, capacity will drop to about 100,000 vehicles, LMC estimates.
GM expects to employ 2,225 people at Detroit-Hamtramck when it reaches full capacity, according to its contract with the UAW. The plant will play an integral role in GM’s commitment to build 20 EVs globally by 2023.
Last fall, GM said Detroit-Hamtramck was one of four U.S. plants slated to close as part of a sweeping restructuring plan. The other three plants identified — Lordstown Assembly in Ohio and transmission plants in Maryland and Michigan — have been shut down permanently. GM last week agreed to sell the Lordstown plant to an EV-manufacturing startup.
Reuters last month reported that GM may bring back the Hummer brand on a vehicle it builds at Detroit-Hamtramck, though it’s unclear which product would bear the Hummer name.