GM announces grand plans for Ohio

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is planning to sell its Lordstown, Ohio facility to Workhorse Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WKHS) and an affiliated entity, and talks are currently underway between both parties.

Workhorse is a Cincinnati-based automaker that builds electric trucks, and the company plans to build a commercial electric pickup at the plant if it succeeds in acquiring it. The sale is expected to bring significant production and assembly jobs to the plant.

The Lordstown facility was closed in March as part of GM’s decision to shut down several manufacturing facilities and cut jobs in order to reduce costs. GM was criticized by lawmakers for this decision and has been facing pressure to save and create more jobs.

GM also announced its plans to bring over 450 manufacturing jobs to three Ohio cities – Toledo, Parma and Moraine – and to invest around $700 million to expand operations in these locations. GM has announced 2,650 new jobs so far this year, including the ones promised at Ohio.

The Moraine plant will expand diesel engine production for GM’s heavy-duty pickups, the Toledo plant will expand production of 10-speed automatic transmission for trucks and SUVs and the Parma plant will expand production of stamped parts and deploy laser cell welding technology.

Due to changes in customer preferences, GM decided to phase out sedans and focus more on trucks and SUVs. Like its peers, the company is investing in electric and autonomous vehicles. On Tuesday, GM announced that its self-driving unit Cruise secured an additional investment of $1.15 billion that increased its valuation to $19 billion.

GM’s shares have risen 13% so far this year. The stock was down 0.27% in afternoon hours on Wednesday.

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