GM to invest $44.5M in Lansing Cadillac factory

DETROIT General Motors (GM) says it will invest $44.5 million at a Lansing, Mich., factory, creating 200 new jobs.

The automaker says it will build a 400,000-square-foot building next to the Lansing Grand River plant to assemble parts and put them in the right order for manufacturing.

The factory already employs more than 1,500 hourly and salaried workers who make the Cadillac ATS and CTS luxury sports sedans. It also will make the next generation Chevrolet Camaro in 2015.

GM says the new logistics center will make the factory more efficient and cut transportation costs.

The plant now makes the ATS small car, and coupe, sedan, wagon and high-performance "V" models of the CTS midsize car on the same assembly line.

The new building and workers will boost quality and efficiency by assembling parts and putting them in the right sequence for all the different models, including the new Camaro, GM spokeswoman Erin Davis says.

The company doesn't know how many of the 200 jobs will be filled by new hires or recalled laid-off workers. Normally new hires are paid an entry-level wage of around $16 per hour, a little more than half the pay of a longtime assembly line worker represented by the United Auto Workers union.

GM hopes to have the building open and providing parts by the end of 2014, Davis said.

The investment is on top of $190 million announced in October of 2010 for production of the ATS. That spending created 600 jobs and brought the plant a second shift. GM also said in May of 2011 that it would invest $88 million at the plant to build the next generation CTS, which is due out later this year.