GM spending $336 million on plant upgrades for Volt production

General Motors on Monday said it would spend $336 million on upgrades to the Hamtramck plant near downtown Detroit to build the Chevrolet Volt hybrid car.

The plant will begin building Volt prototypes next spring, using the Hamtramck plant's existing production line. Production of saleable vehicles begins next fall. GM expects to build about 8,000 Volts during the car's first model year and expects to see that grow to 60,000 units in future years.

To help cut costs, used equipment from other GM plants is being brought into the Hamtramck plant for the Volt.

The Hamtramck plant opened in 1985. It currently builds the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne sedans. At one time in its history, the plant was the final assembly point for the Cadillac Allante, mating the chassis with bodies built in Italy and flown to Michigan.

By Dale Jewett