General Motors’ Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center is undergoing a huge transformation. This is why it has been named as ‘Factory Zero.’ The sprawling plant was often referred to as D-Ham within the company. According to plant Director Jim Quick, the renaming of the plant to Factory Zero has a lot to explain. This hints towards its aim of being a manufacturer of only zero-emission vehicles. It will also pave the way forward for zero crashes and zero congestions future. A vision articulated by top leaders of General Motors including that of CEO Mary Barra. This is also a call-back to Factory One in Michigan way back in 1880. This is when Billy Durant started the acquisition of other companies which eventually become General Motors.
GMC Hummer EV SUV and pickup will be among the first products that will be manufactured in this plant. The other product of this factory will be Cruise Origin robotaxi. For all this, GM has decided To make the investment of USD 2.2 billion to convert this plant into Factory Zero which will be fully dedicated to manufacturing electric vehicles. The step was evident as the plant stopped manufacturing of the Cadillac CT6 and Chevrolet Impala ahead of the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020.
Soon after that, the crew started to remove all the equipment required for the manufacturing of these vehicles. By the time lockdown was introduced in late March, the work had reached a stage where it was literally not possible to stop the work. This is why General Motors was given a waiver to continue with proper security measures in place. This helped the car manufacturers to complete the revamping of the plant as scheduled. Gerald Johnson, executive president of GM’s global manufacturing, said that it helped the company to accelerate the manufacture of the Hummer. The company will also have a new body and paint shop at the plant which is spread over 4 million square feet area.
