GM Hails Spring Hill Investment As White House Scrutinizes Jobs Announcements

General Motors said Friday it will begin making Acadia SUVs with right-hand steering wheels in Spring Hill. Specifically, the vehicles will be exported to Australia. It’s a relatively small announcement. But it comes at a time when the White House is scrutinizing manufacturers and where they decide to invest.

The Spring Hill expansion is valued at $27 million, which is money to retool the plant so it can handle making right-hand-drive SUVs. It’s more than just moving a steering wheel. A company spokesperson says almost everything in the car has to be flipped.

Still,
no jobs are being added.

“It’s a continuation of our story that we are investing in the U.S.,” says Detroit-based GM spokesman Tom Wickham, who says the company has been highlighting domestic production long before Donald Trump was elected president.

However, General Motors has gone out of its way to highlight U.S. investments in recent weeks,
especially when moving jobs from Mexico to the U.S. It’s quite a contrast from two years ago when GM announced it would start building a Cadillac SUV in Spring Hill. When that press release went out in 2014,
there was no mention that the vehicle was previously assembled in Mexico.

GM’s Spring Hill plant has rebounded since nearly being shuttered in 2009. It now employs more than 4,000 people.