General Motors announces massive US manufacturing investment just as Chinese investor halts plans
General Motors is making moves. But the latest move isn’t a grab for international markets, but rather a push to offset the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs. All-in-all, the Detroit titan is investing $4 billion in three domestic manufacturing plants, including shifting the ICE Chevrolet Equinox and Blazer from Mexico to the United States.
General Motors will pump $4 billion into domestic manufacturing as China backs off in the US and Mexican tariffs hit
It’s been a volatile time for the auto industry at large. Tariffs, parts shortages, and political turmoil are just part of the landscape for car brands in 2025. But General Motors seems confident that investing in domestic vehicle production is the right move to sidestep tariffs on Mexican-built models.
The Detroit parent company for Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, and Buick recently announced a hefty $4 billion investment in three domestic manufacturing plants. Like many European and Asian imports, vehicles and parts imported from Mexico are subject to a 25% tariff. One of the planned moves will involve updating a currently vegetative Michigan plant. GM says the updates will permit the brand to produce an additional two million vehicles per year.
General Motors says the converted Michigan plant will produce ICE trucks and SUVs instead of EVs in 2027. The $4 billion investment will also uproot production of the gasoline-swilling Chevrolet Blazer and Equinox and move it from Mexico to the United States. For now, the Blazer EV and Equinox EV will remain at the Ramos Arizpe plant in Coahuila, Mexico.
The Chevrolet Blazer, the larger of the two ICE SUVs, will trade its Mexican address for General Motors’ Fairfax, Kansas, plant. The Equinox, on the other hand, will join the Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, also in 2027.
The news follows an announcement by Chinese-owned energy company AESC Group that it will halt plans to complete a $1.6 billion battery cell plant in Florence, South Carolina. AESC Group says it still intends to finish the plant, which is good news for BMW’s planned 2026 opening of a nearby facility in Greer. BMW says that, although the AESC plant will supply the facility with battery technology, AESC’s halted construction will not delay the 2026 opening of the Greer plant.
