GM to invest in Buffalo area engine plant

General Motors (GM) plans to invest $888 million in its Tonawanda Propulsion plant in Tonawanda, New York, which is near Buffalo, saying the project will support the production of the sixth generation of GM’s V-8 engines, used in trucks and SUVs.

A description of the current GM L8T eight-cylinder engine for trucks and SUVs assembled in Tonawanda on the GM website says it consists of a cast iron engine block and cast aluminum cylinder heads.

An unsourced description from Wikipedia indicates the Tonawanda facility does not operate a melt shop but instead receives cast components from GM foundries in Defiance, Ohio, and Saginaw, Michigan. However, the Tonawanda plant likely generates significant amounts of recyclable metal, old corrugated containers (OCC) and plastic film.

The automaker, in its late May investment plans announcement, says its new generation of engines are expected to deliver stronger performance than today's engines while benefiting fuel economy and reducing emissions.

The move is part of a series of GM investments in its manufacturing facilities during the past 15 years, including a $500 million project at its Flint Engine plant in Michigan, announced in January 2023.

The Tonawanda announcement marks the largest single investment the company has ever made in an engine plant and makes Tonawanda the second GM propulsion plant to produce this new generation of engines, according to GM.

“Our significant investments in GM’s Tonawanda Propulsion plant show our commitment to strengthening American manufacturing and supporting jobs in the United States,” GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra says.

“GM’s Buffalo plant has been in operation for 87 years and is continuing to innovate the engines we build there to make them more fuel efficient and higher performing, which will help us deliver world-class trucks and SUVs to our customers for years to come."

The investment will pay for new machinery, equipment and tools, as well as facility renovations.

“This investment marks an exciting new chapter for our plant,” says Tara Wasik, plant director at Tonawanda. “For generations, our team has demonstrated its commitment to manufacturing excellence.”

GM says the Tonawanda Propulsion facility, represented by Local 774 of the United Auto Workers, will continue to produce the fifth generation of GM’s V-8 engine while the plant prepares for the next generation’s start of production in 2027.

Engine production started at the Tonawanda plant in 1938, and the 3.1 million-square-foot, 190-acre campus originally was built to assemble six-cylinder engines and axles for Chevrolets.

Just a few years later, the plant converted its assembly lines to build 14- and 18-cylinder Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines for World War II aircraft, including the P-61 Black Widow Night Fighter, the B-24 Liberator and the P-47 Thunderbolt, before returning to automotive production after the war.