© General Motors

Not long after building the 4 millionth Ecotec engine at the company’s Spring Hill, Tennessee, plant, General Motors has announced a large new investment into the plant’s capabilities. The complex receives an injection of $185 million to make small gas engines, which retains 390 jobs in the community. In addition, a $48.4 million investment will be made into the Bedford, Indiana powertrain castings plant, which helps the company to create or retain 45 additional jobs.

The investments support GM’s new line of small-displacement engines – part of the Ecotec engine family – that will be used by five different General Motors Brands across 27 different models by 2017. These engine will be found under the hood of many of GM’s high-volume small car and compact crossover vehicles, and are intended to help the company meet the government’s CAFE fuel-economy standards.

The new engine family will be comprised of eleven different engines, spanning three- and four-cylinder models ranging from 1.0L to 1.5L in displacement. The Spring Hill facility is one of six locations worldwide that will be key to production of the new engine platforms. As is becoming the norm among OE manufacturers, GM will look to include turbocharging in its portfolio to assist in performance initiatives. The engines will range from 75 horsepower to 165 horsepower, with torque values from 70 pound-feet to 184 pound-feet in the larger-displacement models.

The Spring Hill plant currently manufactures the 2.0L turbocharged direct-injection Ecotec engine, along with the 2.4L direct-injection version, and the 2.5L direct-injection Ecotec engine that can be found in the 2014 Chevrolet Malibu and Impala. Bedford Plant will manufacture the engine blocks used in these engines.