FW GM to add Heavy Duty truck assembly

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Fort Wayne General Motors Plant officials have announced Monay afternoon that the local plant will add a Heavy Duty truck line to the assembly.

Fort Wayne General Motors plant officials announced Monday that a new product will be added to the Fort Wayne assembly line.

That announcement is great news for the plant, the workers, and the people of Allen County.

In January of next year the Fort Wayne Assembly Plant will start producing heavy duty 3/4 and 1 ton Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks.

The plant already makes light duty versions of the trucks. This transformation of the assembly line gives job security to the over 2500 workers at the plant. GM Plant Manager Mike Gilinski says the announcement will save 50 jobs that would have been gone without it. Not to mention it makes the Fort Wayne plant one of the top if not the top truck assembly plants in the world.

The project will cost GM about 46 million dollars, 27 of that on new equipment. But recently the Allen County Council passed a 27 million dollar tax abatement over a 10 year span. During a time where GM has seen one of its greatest drop offs, the Fort Wayne Plant looks to be safe for years to come.

Production on the new heavy duty trucks will begin in January of next year. The plant will also produce diesel trucks, but that won't begin until the summer of next year.