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Jan 23, 2023
The V-8 Is Not Dead: GM Confirms New Sixth-Gen Small-Block
GM is investing nearly a billion dollars to gear up for its next-generation V-8 gasoline engine.

General Motors is amping up its electrification plans, but it hasn't grown stone cold to its internal combustion engine (ICE) business quite yet. GM just announced that it is investing multitudinous millions to prepare various GM facilities for the sixth-generation small block V-8 engine. GM's full-size trucks and SUVs (those are the vehicles GM mentioned, at least), will continue to get this powerplant. This investment shows that GM's commitment to the internal combustion engine is far from dead, for the time being at least, since re-tooling could mean GM is all-in on its V-8 gassers for at least another decade. GM hasn't divulged any details on its next V-8—particulars like engine specifications, applications, and when we'll see them in GM's trucks and SUVs.

The $918 million investment spans four United States GM facilities involved in the machining of various small block V-8 internals and the engine's final assembly. Most of the cashola ($854 million) will go toward the V-8, which with a small portion ($64 million) reserved for EV components. Since 2013, GM has reportedly invested more than $37 billion in its United States manufacturing facilities.

Here's the breakdown between the four plants: GM will invest $579 million in the Flint Engine Operations in Flint, Michigan, where the sixth-gen small block V-8 family of engines will be assembled. GM will invest $216 million in Bay City GPS in Bay City, Michigan (camshafts, connecting rods), $47 million in Defiance Operations in Defiance, Ohio (block castings), and $12 million in Rochester Operations in Rochester, New York (intake manifolds, fuel rails).

Some $64 million will be split between Defiance ($8 million) and Rochester ($56 million) for EV projects. The Defiance investment is for building a casting development cell to support future EV strategies, and the Rochester allotment funds the production of EV battery pack cool lines. Will this be the final chapter of the GM small block? Maybe. But at least the book isn't closed on it, yet.

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