DETROIT – Nearly 20 years ago, when I had the privilege of being the plant manager at General Motors’ Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant, I could not have imagined the role it would someday play in charting the future of transportation.
Over the past several months, we retooled this facility with the best, most advanced technology in the world to build the highest quality electric vehicles for our customers. Now, to see the former plant evolved into the model for GM’s electric vehicle production is monumental.
The opening of our first fully dedicated electric vehicle assembly plant, now called Factory ZERO, is a testament to the talented and dedicated employees who are helping make an all-electric future not just possible, but a reality.
The electric trucks, SUVs and self-driving vehicles built at this plant will change the world.
The historic day signifies much more for GM – and our nation. With President Biden and other U.S. leaders in attendance for the occasion, we celebrated the enormous strides our products and our people are making towards a world with zero emissions.
The sheer joy on President Biden’s face as he took the GMC HUMMER EV pickup for a test drive is what we want everyone to experience. The unbelievable acceleration of Watts to Freedom mode shows how the world’s first all-electric supertruck is truly unmatched. We can’t wait to deliver them to our customers.
As we continue bringing #EVerybodyIn on this journey, Factory ZERO is just the beginning of GM’s multibillion-dollar U.S. investment in people, product and process.
It’s exciting to know that in two years, Factory ZERO will double the number of employees we now have at the plant. It sets the stage for what’s to come – here and at many more GM facilities.
The opening of this plant is one of many key milestones as we work toward making our products and operations carbon neutral by 2040.
Beyond our company, this plant represents a promising new chapter for the surrounding communities and for the rest of the industry. Above all, Factory ZERO is an American electric vehicle factory built on GM’s legacy of innovation.
GM changed the way the world moves, and now we are doing it again. Our investments and technologies have fundamentally changed our business, and potential. We are rapidly redefining the company as a platform innovator, driven by steady growth in our businesses, the scaling of EV production, creating new customer experiences and the rapid growth of new businesses beyond our vehicles.
I am so optimistic about the future and can’t wait to keep showing the world what the GM team can accomplish.
