General Motors is making an under-the-radar investment in it’s Duramax Engine facility that will ensure the next-generation HD Diesel engine continues to be manufactured in Ohio.

You’d be forgiven if you can’t keep up with all of the money GM is investing these days. Even we’re finding it challenging.  The company has recently announced upgrades to plants all around the US, including for HD Production in Flint, Full-size SUV production in Texas, and light-duty pickup production in Fort Wayne. Millions and Billions of dollars. Now, without any fanfare, the company is adding its DMAX engine facilities in Ohio to the list of locations getting production upgrades for next-generation products.

The Duramax Diesel Engine Produced at the DMAX Facilities
The Duramax Diesel Engine Produced at the DMAX Facilities

As reported by local media in Dayton, the $920 Million investment will be targeted toward the DMAX Company’s Brookville location. DMAX is the company that produces the Duramax Diesel engine for GM and was a joint venture with Izuzu until a few years ago. Now, DMAX is owned entirely by General Motors.

The investment will quadruple the size of the DMAX Brookville campus from 250,000 square feet to nearly 1.1 million square feet. The original Moraine facility will eventually be shuttered after the Brookville campus is expanded. GM has indicated that the company won’t be done with the Moraine facility and workers will be moved to Brookville- but has not expanded on what the future of Moraine will hold or what the facility will be used for.

OPened in 2019, the Brookville plant was originally a companion to the Moraine main line facility. It sent finished engine components to be assembled in Moraine, with finished engines sent to Flint, Michigan for GM HD Pickup production. The investment will shift the mainline engine assembly to Brookville.

An employee at the DMAX, LTD engine plant assembles Duramax diesel engines in Moraine, Ohio on Monday, March 6, 2017.
An employee at the DMAX, LTD engine plant assembles Duramax diesel engines in Moraine, Ohio on Monday, March 6, 2017.

When the expansion and relocation is complete, over 800 workers will call the Brookville DMAX campus home.

GM has announced three different investments in Ohio powertrain facilities in the last year. That includes money being spent in Toleto and Defiance, for a total of $1.7-Billion.

But as MuscleCarsandTrucks.com reports, “While that’s all a lot of money, it pales in comparison to the investments to make Factory Zero ($2 billion USD), new battery plants ($2.6 billion in Lansing, $2 billion in Spring Hill), and renovating the Orion Assembly Plant (another $4 billion). In fact, GM is outspending its recent ICE truck and SUV investments with its future EV investments to the tune of nearly 3:1.”