GM dodges tariffs with production shift to US from Mexico

GENERAL Motors plans to invest US$4 billion in its US plants over the next two years to boost output of some of its top-selling gas-powered vehicles as the company works to manage President Donald Trump’s tariffs. 

The move will expand finished vehicle manufacturing at factories in Michigan, Kansas and Tennessee, GM said on Tuesday in a statement. The automaker will be able to assemble more than two million vehicles a year in the US as a result of the investment.

GM is moving production of several top-selling models, including a profitable pickup truck line and the Chevrolet Equinox SUV, to factories in the US from Mexico. It will build its Chevy Silverado pickup at a plant outside Detroit that was slated to make slow-selling electric pickups.

The largest importer of vehicles into the US, GM is seeking to mitigate an estimated US$5 billion exposure to Trump’s tariffs. The import taxes aim to boost US manufacturing by driving up costs to build vehicles overseas.

GM’s shares were little changed in after-hours trading on Tuesday. BLOOMBERG