By Chris Haak
To steal from Mark Twain, rumors of the V8′s death have been greatly exaggerated. We reported in January on the end of big block V8 production at GM’s Tonawanda, New York plant, which meant that another 108 employees on the L18 big block line landed in GM’s layoff pool, joining some 162 others on layoff there. But after that bad news for V8s and Tonawanda, news came today that the facility would receive a $400 million investment to produce GM’s next-generation V8 engines. The investment will create or preserve more than 710 jobs – meaning that the company will either have to hire new workers to fill all of the spots or will have to draw from its pool of laid-off employees from elsewhere in the country.
It’s not just Tonawanda getting good news from GM today, though. St. Catharines is getting a $235 million investment and about 400 jobs; Defiance is getting $115 million and up to 189 jobs; Bedford is receiving an investment of $111 million and roughly 245 jobs; Bay City is getting investment worth $32 million that should yiedl more than 80 jobs. GM did not confirm the timing of the investments or the hiring, nor did it get specific about which vehicles the new engines would find these engines under their hoods.
