Bedford, Ind. (July 27, 2022) – Members of the Bedford City Council in Bedford, IN, have approved a ten-year tax abatement in order to attract $47 million in additional capital investment from GM for its Bedford Casting Operations facility.
The Council approved a 100 percent tax abatement for the site for a ten-year period according to a report from the Bedford Times-Mail. Local radio station WBIW says the GM Bedford Casting Operations plant generated $1.7 million in property taxes in 2022.
A press release published by GM last December indicated the automaker was previously set to invest $51 million in the Bedford aluminum die casting site “to support the manufacture of drive unit castings for the upcoming Chevrolet Silverado EV and other current casting applications,” with renovation work set to begin immediately. The Bedford facility also produces drive unit castings for the popular new GMC Hummer EV models.
This newest tax abatement appears to be related to further metal casting operations intended to increase production of equipment for electric vehicles; GM has a goal of eliminating internal combustion powertrains from all of its light-duty vehicles by 2035. In addition to considering Bedford for the $47 million investment, GM is also considering other locations for the investment. The WBIW report says the tax abatement is one of several factors GM will use to decide on the location of the new investment.
The GM Bedford castings plant was first opened in 1942 and currently employs roughly 900 hourly and salaried workers, who manage semi-permanent mold and die casting processes for engine cylinder heads, cylinder blocks, transmission cases, vehicle structural components, and drive unit housings, which are used in a variety of Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles. GM has five facilities spread around Indiana employing a labor force of over 6,000. Motor vehicle manufacturing among multiple firms in Indiana employs over 59,000.
GM has invested roughly $108 million in the Bedford site since 2010 for various upgrades. Various tax abatements have been granted to the automaker since then, for some but not all the new equipment and tooling upgrades, according to the GM Authority website.