General Motors plans to invest $877 million to modernize its assembly plant in Flint, Mich., one of its two U.S. full-size pickup factories.

GM said the investment in its oldest North American plant will include a new body shop, which will be located close to a nearby metal center that supplies sheet metal for the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.

“This investment will allow us to use a more innovative approach to deliver material between two critical facilities, reducing handling and the time it takes to ship parts,” Cathy Clegg, vice president of GM North America manufacturing and labor relations, said today in a statement.

GM said the renovations would be completed in 2018. That timing coincides with the launch of the next-generation of full-size pickups, which is scheduled for a late 2018 or early 2019 debut, sources have told Automotive News.

GM said other work under the project will include retooling and installation of new equipment.

Since 2011, GM has earmarked $1.8 billion for the Flint plant, including about $600 million for a new paint shop and other upgrades. GM said the shop will use a wet-coat process that will result in "a smoother, more durable finish" when it opens next year.

Nearly 3,000 employees work at the 3.7 million-square-foot facility, which opened in 1947.

Since April, GM has announced plans for $5.4 billion in investments across several U.S. plants. Last month, GM began talks with the UAW on a new four-year labor agreement to replace the current one, which expires Sept. 14.

Flint produced more than 180,000 Silverados and Sierras in 2014, most of them heavy duty models, according to the Automotive News Data Center

Source:Automotive News