GM COMMITS ANOTHER $70M TO OSHAWA TO BUILD IMPALA

By Zach Bowman, Autoblog.com - General Motors has announced that it will invest an additional $70 million CAD into the company's Oshawa assembly plant to produce the next-generation Chevrolet Impala. Those funds are on top of over $104 million headed toward the facility to help launch production of the Cadillac XTS in the plant. The Impala marks the fifth new model to be manufactured at Oshawa since 2009, and GM says the new investment will secure approximatley 350 jobs. The next-generation Impala will be built both in Oshawa and at the GM plant in Hamtramck, Michigan, which is also responsible for building the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu.

From what we've heard so far, Impala buyers can expect their new vehicle to be based on a variant of the GM Epsilon 2 platform with a 3.6-litre V6 under the hood. The vehicle may also boast a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, and the GM eAssist system may rear its head as well.

The Oshawa assembly plant currently employs 4,400 workers, and the facility produces the Chevrolet Camaro, Camaro Convertible, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Equinox and Buick Regal. The plant recently added two new shifts, thereby securing 1,300 jobs in the process.