gm invests 500 million for a third v8 production plant General Motors is throwing even more money at a formula it knows still works. The company confirmed it will invest more than $500 million into its St. Catharines Propulsion plant in Ontario to support production of its new generation of small-block V8 engines. The St. Catharines plant was supposed to transition from making Gen 5 V8s and DCT transmissions for the C8 Corvette to building electric-drive propulsion units for EVs, but two years ago, General Motors walked back those plans. It will be the third plant in GM's arsenal building the new sixth-generation V8 architecture-the pushrod V8 will also be built at GM's Tonawanda Propulsion plant in Buffalo, New York, which received an $888 million investment last year, along with Flint Engine Operations in Michigan, where the automaker committed another $500 million in 2023. Altogether, that's pretty much 2 billion dollars invested in V8 engines. 2026 Porsche Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid: All the Details gm invests 500 million for a third v8 production plant New equipment is already arriving in St. Catharines as the plant begins the transition, though it will continue assembling the current fifth-generation V8 during the changeover. That overlap is typical for GM, considering how critical these engines are to the company's core products. Of course, we're talking about full-size trucks and SUVs. Even though the C8 was the first recipient of the sixth-gen SBC architecture, all the bread and butter comes from the body-on-frame brotherhood. GM doesn't break down sales by engine choice, but the volume alone colors most of the story. In the U.S. last year, Chevrolet sold 577,434 gasoline-powered Silverados, while GMC moved another 348,222 Sierras. Mix in more than 315,000 full-size SUVs across Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac, and it's safe to assume GM moved something close to a million V8 engines. gm invests 500 million for a third v8 production plant The new engine for trucks is expected to debut in the next-generation 2027 Chevrolet Silverado, which should be revealed later this year. From there, it will spread across the lineup, including the GMC Sierra, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon, and Cadillac Escalade. While the all-new 6.7L LS6 V8 engine launched in the 2027 Corvette Grand Sport, making 535 horsepower and 520 lb-ft of torque, it will be a significantly different product when GM drops it into its bigger rigs. Corvette engines are optimized for maximum power at high RPMs, while the truck engines focus on beefy low-end torque for towing. Typically, that means the trucks will get longer intake runners to boost low-end torque, along with different camshaft profiles and very different exhaust manifolds. The biggest difference is likely to be the block itself, with the Corvette's LS6 using an aluminum block and dry sump oiling, the truck engines will almost certainly get the familiar cast-iron block. For all the headline talk coming out of GM about electrification over the past few years, you just need to follow the money to understand where GM's priorities really lie. AutoGuide Wrapped: The News Stories That Got The Most Traffic In 2025