May 22, 2015—General Motors is spending $439 million to build a new paint shop at the Bowling Green, Ky., plant where the Chevrolet Corvette is assembled. This investment is part of the $5.4 billion that GM will spend to upgrade its 40 U.S. manufacturing sites.
Construction on the 450,000-square-foot facility will start this summer and take about two years to finish, and will allow the plant to retain 150 current jobs.
The investment will be used to buy dry scrubber booth technology with limestone handling system designed to eliminate sludge water, LED lighting to improve visual inspection, FANUC robots that can apply paint more efficiently and high-efficiency baking ovens for better paint finish while using less energy.
The paint shop investment is more than triple the $135 million GM spent over the last four years. The plant’s investment is due in part to the current generation of the Corvette Stingray. Corvette sales reached an eight-year high in 2014 with almost 38,000 cars sold globally. The plant also welcomed a record 56,000 tourists last year.
"The Corvette is one of Kentucky's most-cherished icons," said. Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen. "Such a significant expansion of the Bowling Green assembly plant will help the company remain competitive in the region and around the world."
