General Motors U.S. Factory Investment Piggybacks Mexico Interest

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ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — General Motors plans to spend $5.4 billion to improve its U.S. factories during the next three years, creating about 650 new jobs.

Though low gas prices have added to a shift in the U.S. market from cars to SUVs, Spokesman Bill Grotz wouldn't say if any of the money would go to expand GM's Arlington, Texas plant, a location that produces large SUVs.

In August 2014, GM purchased the Arlington facility to expand its operations center campus there, and to accommodate 800 to 900 employees, most of them new hires.  The Arlington plant is running flat-out to meet demand for vehicles such as the Chevrolet Tahoe, which has seen sales rise 33 percent so far this year.

The Arlington plant also produces GMC Yukons, Cadillac Escalades, and Chevy Suburbans.

But just how special is this GM investment in U.S. factories? In December, the company announced plans to invest $5 billion to modernize and expand its four factories in Mexico.

In March, the company said it would spend $350 million on its Coahuila, Mexico assembly plant alone.

A worker in Mexico costs car companies an average of $8 an hour, including wages and benefits. That compares with $58 in the U.S. for General Motors in the U.S., according to the Center for Automotive Research, an industry think tank in Ann Arbor, Mich.

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