Kansas City, Kansas – A half-billion vehicles over 106 years equals billions in commerce, payroll, investments, and infrastructure in communities all over the world. For customers, these vehicles played roles in weddings, family vacations, graduations, new businesses and countless milestones along life’s journey.
Globally, more than 500 million General Motors-branded vehicles have been built – the most of any automaker by far.
GM CEO Mary Barra and GM North America and Global Chevrolet President Alan Batey celebrated the milestone with customers, employees, and dealers at the Fairfax (Kansas) Assembly plant.
“During 2015, we expect to sell more than 1,000 new vehicles per hour, 24 hours per day,” says Barra. “This adds up to nearly 10 million vehicles, the most in our history. I look at this extraordinary volume as 10 million opportunities to prove what kind of company we are and to say thank you.”
Batey announced GM will invest $174 million in the Fairfax plant for new equipment and technology to support production of the 2016 Malibu and improve customer satisfaction. One enhancement – a shake and rattle booth – simulates any road condition a customer might experience – and identifies sources of noise so they can be fixed.
“Every element of the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu was designed to give our customers a beautiful and high-quality sedan with technologies that will make their lives easier and safer,” says Batey. “It will all come together here at Fairfax, and the men and women who work here can hardly wait to get started.”
Last week, GM announced it will invest $5.4 billion over three years to build the next generations of future vehicles in the U.S., including $783.5 million in three facilities in the state of Michigan and the $174 million announced for Fairfax.
Since June 2009, GM has announced U.S. facility investments of approximately $16.8 billion. About $11.4 billion of that has come since the 2011 UAW-GM National Agreement. In total, these investments have created 3,650 new jobs and secured the positions of approximately 20,700 others.
Founded in 1908 and reborn in 2009, GM’s global presence dates to the early 20th Century when Sun Yat-sen, the first president of China, and Pu Yi, the last emperor, took their first automobile ride in a 1912 Buick. By 1931, GM owned Vauxhall in the United Kingdom, Holden in Australia, and Opel in Germany.
GM’s first manufacturing joint venture with SAIC in China – Shanghai GM – began in 1997. China is now GM’s largest market, where it has 11 joint ventures and two wholly owned foreign enterprises.
Source: General Motors Co.