GM Will Not Build Cruze and Volt Engines in US

Well, this is huge. Instead of building the small four cylinder engine for the Cruze and Volt here in the States, apparently, these engines will be shipped overseas. What a bummer. The beloved Chevy Volt will now have foreign batteries as well as a foreign engine. What's the point? I'm better off buying a Prius and having it converted to plug-in power here in the US! If you cannot tell, this news distresses the author.

From Automotive News:

General Motors has scrapped plans for a new engine plant in Flint, Mich., that would have built 1.4-liter engines for the Chevrolet Volt hybrid and Cruze compact.

Instead, those engines will be built in an existing plant in Flint, said GM spokeswoman Sharon Basel.

GM has been hustling to cut costs as it battles to survive. GM and Chrysler LLC presented their restructuring plans to the U.S. Treasury Department last week in an effort to qualify for federal loans. The companies have received $17.4 billion in government loans and say they will need as much as $21.6 billion more.

"Because of capital constraints, we are not investing in new floor space," Basel said.

The change of plans will not affect the launch of the Volt and Cruze, Basel said. GM plans to import the first engines for the Volt and Cruze from Europe, Basel said.

By December 2010, GM's Flint South engine plant is expected to begin building Volt and Cruze engines. The Cruze is due in showrooms in early 2010, and the Volt is scheduled to follow in November.

Basel said GM reassessed plans for the new engine plant after the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and GMC Envoy SUVs ended production in December. The Flint South plant built a 4.2-liter inline-six engine for those vehicles. That engine has been discontinued, freeing up factory space.

Beginning this spring, GM will spend $250 million to modify and retool Flint South to build the new engines.

GM announced the new Flint plant last fall and had started site preparation when sales stalled and GM ran into major financial trouble.

Basel said it is possible that the new plant for the Cruze and Volt engines would be built someday.