FLINT — The Chevrolet Volt engine that’s being built at Flint Engine South gets all the attention, but the powertrain for General Motors humble Cruze, a new compact car that’s headed to dealer showrooms this month, could end up as the real job producer here.

“The Volt is the main attraction,” said Terry Everman, shop chairman for UAW Local 599. “Everyone is standing in line for a chance to take a ride,” but the Cruze engine “is going to be big.”

“I hope it sells like a bat out of hell.”
Local 599 members are already building pre-pilot test versions of the 1.4-liter turbocharged engines for the Cruze and regular production is expected to start in November on the same line that will also turn out the gasoline add-on engine for the electric Volt.

They’ve even asked dealers to purchase competing vehicles so that customers can compare them to the Cruze, which GM expects will reach 40 mpg on the highway with its Flint-built powertrain.

The fallout for Flint could be more demand for the 1.4-liter engine and more jobs at Flint Engine South, where hundreds of workers about to be laid off from Powertrain Flint North will be waiting to be called back to a job.

Among the reasons to hope for big things from the Cruze engine:

• GM expects 70 percent of the new compacts sold will include the 1.4-liter turbo engine rather than a 1.8-liter engine that’s built in Mexico. Flint is the only U.S. plant building the 1.4-liter turbo.

• Chevrolet is promising a strong marketing push for the Cruze, which will have a starting sticker price of $16,995. “We’re going to support it in a very big way,” said Margaret Brooks, Chevrolet marketing director for small cars. “The plan is basically for the Cruze to be everywhere.”

• The 1.4-liter Cruze engine could eventually be used in other vehicles, including the Chevy Aevo, according to company and union officials, who would also like to see production of the 1.8-liter standard engine moved here. The 1.4-liter turbo engines in the first Cruzes are coming from Europe with production shifting to Flint later this year and next.

Brooks would not say how many Cruzes Chevy plans to build, and Flint-based GM spokesman Tom Wickham would only said 80 employees at Flint South are already working on the Volt-Cruze line.

Wickham said the turbo engine is expected to make up a higher percentage of the line’s production. The company told Local 599 employees just last week that 70 of 400 remaining employees at Flint North will transfer to Flint South in November, leaving 330 to be paid off.

“We are not providing a timetable or numbers at this time” of how many of those 330 will eventually transfer to Flint South, Wickham said in an e-mail to The Flint Journal.

But Everman said overall production is expected to start at a rate of 100 engines per day, advancing to 400 and jumping to 800 by spring 2011. At that time, the hourly workforce on the line is projected to total 280, according to the union.

With retirements expected from some Local 599 members, Everman said all of the laid off workers who want to continue at GM should be back on the job within a year.

Chevrolet briefed reporters on the Cruze last week, promoting the car’s fuel economy, roominess, safety features like 10 standard air bags, and amenities compact car buyers haven’t seen before.

The 1.4-liter engine “performs like a larger engine when needed, but retains the efficiency of a small-displacement four-cylinder in most driving conditions,” the company said in promotional materials.

Flint Metal Center, the GM stamping plant on West Bristol Road, is also producing body parts for the vehicle.

The Cruze is been sold outside the U.S. for about 18 months. The U.S. and Canadian versions of the Cruze are being built in Lordstown, Ohio, where $350 million was invested for production.

GM invested $250 million in the new Flint South engine line to produce compact powertrains called “Family Zero.” The company said in early 2009 that the line would have approximately 150 highly flexible stations that will allow production of multiple 4-cylinder engine families without retooling.

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GM spokeswoman Sharon Basel told us that the intention all along had been for engines for the early production runs of the Cruze and Volt to be supplied from a European facility that already builds variants of GM’s so-called “Family 0″ powertrains. The Flint plant would not have been ready for start of production of Cruze this spring.

With the continuing financial crisis and weak sales, GM’s European factory has enough capacity to supply Cruze and Volt for a time so that the automaker can conserve capital. The timing of construction was reaching a point where GM would have had to commit to spending millions of additional dollars that it doesn’t have right now. Therefore, the company has opted to cancel the contracts and put the plant on hold until the situation improves. In the meantime, both vehicle programs are still on schedule and otherwise unaffected by these moves.

Press release below:

GM Announces $370 Million Investment for New Small Engine Manufacturing in North America

New GM engines will power Chevrolet Cruze and electrify Chevy Volt New, highly flexible manufacturing facility is planned

FLINT , Mich. – General Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner today announced that the company will invest $370 million in the U.S. to build a new manufacturing plant for its global 4-cylinder engines in Flint, Mich. The plant will begin production in the U.S. in 2010, and will be the exclusive manufacturing facility in North America to produce the Chevrolet Volt’s range extending engine.

The investment in Flint is one of several that have been announced at U.S. plants in the past 10 years, adding up to over a $9 billion total investment in Michigan and more than $42 billion in the United States. “GM, the UAW and the City of Flint have had a long- standing relationship,” Wagoner said. ” Based on the capability and the commitment of the men and women who will work here, the tradition and leadership from UAW Local 599, the tremendous automotive heritage that underlies this region, and the strong partnerships we enjoy with local, state, and federal governments… we are confident that Flint is exactly the right place to build our all-new powertrain plant.”

“We are proud that General Motors has chosen Michigan as the best place to develop and produce the revolutionary Chevy Volt and other next-generation vehicles and components,” Governor Jennifer M. Granholm said. “Our competitive business climate, outstanding workforce and aggressive strategy to diversify our economy put us in a strong position to win this project and be the state that helps GM produce the cars and trucks that will help end our nation’s dependence on foreign oil.”

The investment includes construction of the new 552,000 square foot plant, machinery, equipment and special tooling to support production of the new 4-cylinder engines. In addition to the $349 million facility investment, GM will invest an additional $21 million for vendor tooling to support the new Flint operations. Construction on the new facility is slated to begin immediately, with completion in 2010. The project will retain about 300 hourly jobs.

Two engines will be built at the new facility. A 1.4-liter turbo for the Chevrolet Cruze and 1.4-liter naturally aspirated engine for the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV), will be new members of an engine family already deployed successfully around the world, primarily in Europe. The engines will play a key role in GM’s plan to double global production of small four-cylinder engines by 2011, with more than half of that increase coming from North America.

Tom Stephens, GM Executive Vice President of Global Powertrain and Global Quality spoke to the role the 1.4-liter turbo will play in the company’s line-up. “The new 1.4L turbo for the Chevrolet Cruze highlights GM’s global commitment to offering engines that provide outstanding fuel efficiency without compromising vehicle performance. The new 1.4L turbocharged engine has the power of a larger engine, but retains the efficiency of a small-displacement four-cylinder. And with this engine, we expect the Cruze to be a fuel economy leader in its segment when it’s introduced in early 2010 . “

Within the new engine plant will be GM Powertrain’s most flexible and competitive engine assembly lines in the world, with approximately 300 highly flexible stations that will allow assembly of multiple 4-cylinder engine families without retooling. The plant will be a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified facility, the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. And the plant will be landfill free, meaning no waste from manufacturing operations will go to landfills, but will be recycled, reused or converted to energy, proving the plant will be as environmentally sound as the products it manufactures.