General Motors CEO Edward Whitacre announced today that GM will be paying back the government loan it received last year four years ahead of schedule. Whitacre said much has changed at GM in the past year, and these changes have allowed them pay back the government and look forward to a brighter future.
This was certainly good economic news in itself, but the best news, at least for the Kansas City area, was Whitacre’s announcement that GM will invest $136 million in the Fairfax plant to make the next-generation Chevy Malibu. This investment will make Fairfax the primary manufacturer of the Malibu.
We have written much about the local auto manufacturing sector in this blog. Despite the severe downturn in this sector, Kansas City’s auto manufacturers have not only survived, but thrived. Last year, Fairfax added a third shift when there was speculation that it might lose jobs. The Claycomo plant continues to make two very popular models in Ford’s line. Now with news of today’s GM investment, we can say that auto manufacturing in Kansas City is one of the region’s economic bright spots.
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