Daimler Truck North America executives plan to invest nearly $300 million to upgrade its Detroit-area internal combustion engine plant and beef up research and development work on future products.
The plan to modernize the Detroit Diesel Corp. factory in Redford Township will let it maintain its production capacity and is expected to add more than 400 jobs to the roughly 2,000 already at the plant. Construction work is scheduled to start early next year, and Daimler’s $285 million investment is supported by $31 million in incentives from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and the state’s Michigan Strategic Fund.
“This expansion is about more than just innovation; it’s about creating job opportunities and upskilling our workforce to meet the demands of tomorrow’s technology while helping to stabilize the heavy-duty supply chain,” Matt Pfaffenbach, DTNA’s VP of powertrain operations, said in a statement. “This transformative project will propel us into a new era of manufacturing excellence while strengthening our role in the industry and bringing significant growth to the community we call home.”
The Redford Township plant opened in 1938 and cranks out engines, transmissions, and axles for Daimler’s Freightliner, Western Star, and Thomas Built Buses brands. Word of Daimler’s big investment there comes about a month after Daimler Truck Holding AG Chairwoman and CEO Karin Rådström told analysts and investors that her team is confident in its ability to shift production should a changing U.S. tariff landscape call for it.
See also: Daimler Truck signals production 'flexibility' if Trump tariffs require it
“We have a lot of flexibility when it comes to our production footprint,” Rådström said on Daimler Truck’s third-quarter earnings conference call. “There’s no single dependency on a particular product in Mexico […] We do believe we are well positioned.”
In addition to Detroit Diesel’s operations, DTNA runs four plants in North Carolina and one each in Oregon and South Carolina. Combined, those facilities and other DTNA offices employ almost 18,000 people.
“Michigan’s workforce, supply chain, and R&D strength in mobility are the best in North America, and earning this project further cements that leadership,” Quentin Messer Jr., CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and chair of the Michigan Strategic Fund Board, said in the statement. “Detroit Diesel Corporation and companies like it embody the ‘Make It In Michigan’ economic development strategy.”
