GM to add 2,500 jobs in Detroit

DETROIT, May 25 (UPI) -- General Motors said Tuesday it plans to add 2,500 jobs to a plant in Detroit to produce the revamped Chevrolet Impala, which it will launch in 2013.

GM plans to add one shift late this year to the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant, the Detroit Free Press reported. A second shift would be added "at some point after that," said GM North America President Mark Reuss.

The plant already produces the Chevrolet Volt and next year will begin production of the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. This month the plant will stop making the Buick Lucerne and the Cadillac DTS sedans, the newspaper said.

The new jobs, part of a 4,000-job expansion GM announced this month, will first be offered to GM's remaining 1,350 laid-off workers.

GM is expected to upgrade the Impala and increase its fuel efficiency, perhaps making it more appealing to individual buyers. Currently, 70 percent of Impalas are sold to rental companies and businesses.

GM also builds the Impala at a plant in Oshawa, Ontario.

"All we can hope for is that the market is strong enough to support both plants," said Ken Lewenza, president of the Canadian Auto Workers.