General Motors has just announced that it will be investing 370 million dollars in the construction of a new engine plant in Flint, Michigan. The new facilities will see the assembly of the 1.4-litre turbo mill powering the
Chevrolet Cruze , which will first be commercialized in Europe. An atmospheric version of this engine will also be assembled there, along with the electric mill of the
Chevrolet Volt , to be commercialized in 2011.The Flint assembly plant will be operational in 2010 and will be adding 552,000 square feet of facilities, machinery, equipment and tools of all sorts to General Motors' Michigan arsenal.
The new 1.4-litre turbocharged engine, to be found under the hood of the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze mid-2010, will produce 140 hp and 148 lb-ft of torque, more than generous for such a small mill. Thanks to such a flexible engine, the Cruze will undoubtedly turn out to be an example to follow in terms of
fuel consumption . GM has mentioned that a third of its engines will sport 4 cylinders for 2011, and that one engine out of five will be turbocharged. It's safe to say that the industry's landscape will be changing over the next two to three years.
photo: General Motors