GM to move 450 jobs from Mexico to U.S.

17 January, 2017

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General Motors announced it will invest an additional US$ 1 billion at several plants in the U.S. A combination of 1,500 “new and retained” jobs are tied to the new plans, said the company in a press release. The announcement comes just a week after President-elect Donald Trump's latest tweet critical of the automaker's Mexican car production.

GM also said it will take axle production for its next generation full-size pickup trucks back in the U.S., including work previously done in Mexico, to plants in Michigan, creating 450 U.S. jobs.

The automaker also plans to take back thousands of information technology jobs to the U.S. from overseas, creating a total of 5,000 new jobs in the U.S., IT and manufacturing positions combined.

The company said the investments had been in the planning stages for some time denying it was in response to pressure from Trump, but also said "this was good timing" to make the announcement.

The automaker said the US$ 1 billion investment, along with the 1,500 new jobs that will be created or retained in the U.S., are in addition to US$ 2.9 billion announced in 2016 and more than US$ 21 billion GM has invested in its U.S. operations since 2009.

“All of the decisions behind today’s announcement are good business decisions and they have been in the works for some time," said GM spokesman Pat Morrissey. “There’s no question there is an emphasis on job creation in the U.S. right now. This was good timing for us to share what we are doing, including our ongoing commitment and track record for U.S. investment over the last several years.”

But GM officials have stressed that the latest moves were in the works for months and, in some cases several years, and were not a reaction to criticism by president-elect Donald Trump.

At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last week, GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra said the automaker would not alter its global manufacturing strategy to comply with political pressure, and GM General Counsel, Craig Glidden, this week echoed the position to the Wall Street Journal.

CNBC also pointed out a quote from David Cole, director-emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research, noting that “investment decisions of this magnitude and involving changes to manufacturing operations are typically the result of several years of study and require months of consideration by a company's board of directors”.

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