General Motors is investing another $150 million in Saginaw, Michigan, to tool the plant for all-new metal castings of blocks and heads for its next-generation small-block V8 engines. The castings will be sent to GM’s engine plant near Flint, where the automaker has already spent $500 million preparing for small-block production.
The engines are headed for GM’s next-generation full-size pickup trucks, including the 2027 Chevy Silverado 1500 and 2027 GMC Sierra 1500, which will debut later this year. Some of the truck V8s will also be shipped 37 miles to GM’s Lake Orion plant, extending the reach of a powertrain program that remains central to the company’s truck business.
John Lancaster said the investment leaves the plant “well-positioned for the future,” adding that it “not only secures existing jobs but also strengthens the local economy, and ensures the plant continues to be an integral part of the automotive supply chain.” Saginaw, GM’s third-oldest facility in the United States, employs more than 300 people across three shifts, and the new work helps anchor a site that has been part of the company’s manufacturing base for decades.
The move also fits into a larger reset of GM’s V-8 lineup. The company began the small-block line in 1955, reached 100 million units about 15 years ago and started talking a few years ago about a redesigned sixth-generation engine. A few weeks ago, the new small-block was reported as ready for prime time and slated to debut in the 2027 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, where GM’s new LS6 V8 arrived first with 6.7 liters, 535 horsepower and 520 pound-feet of torque.
That sequencing matters because GM is still producing its fifth-generation V-8 blocks for now, though it has not said how long that will continue. The Saginaw investment suggests the company is not merely updating an old engine line but building the manufacturing base for the next one, with Flint and Lake Orion tied into a supply chain that still depends on V-8 power for its biggest trucks.
