LANSING, Mich. (AP) - General Motors Co. will add 2,500 jobs at a Detroit-area factory that now makes electric cars, investing $69 million so the plant can make two new Chevrolet sedans.
The factory, which straddles the border between Detroit and the small enclave of Hamtramck, now makes the Chevrolet Volt and its European counterpart, the Opel Ampera.
But GM announced on Wednesday that it will upgrade the factory so that it can run around the clock making the new Malibu midsize car and a revamped version of the aging Impala large sedan.
About 1,200 of the jobs will be new hires, since GM still has to recall about 1,300 laid-off workers in the U.S.
But in Michigan, which has among the highest unemployment rates in the nation, 1,200 new jobs is big news.
GM announced on May 10 that it would create or keep about 4,000 jobs by investing $2 billion in 17 factories in eight states.
The Detroit-Hamtramck announcement adds to previous expansion announcements in Bowling Green, Ky.; Toledo, Ohio; and Flint and Bay City, Mich.
"Filling this plant with new work is very satisfying because GM is dedicated to helping rebuild this city," Mark Reuss, the company's North American president, said in a statement.
GM said last week it would shut the plant down for four weeks starting in June, reconfiguring it to increase Volt and Ampera production from 16,000 cars per year to 60,000 next year in order to meet strong demand.
The shutdown also will let GM add equipment to build the 2013 Malibu midsize sedan at the plant starting next year. The car also will be built in Kansas City, Kansas.
In addition, GM said it will build a long-overdue new version of the Impala at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant.
GM will stop producing two other big cars at the factory, the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne, later this year.
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