ROANOKE, IN—General Motors Co. is investing $24 million to upgrade its Fort Wayne Assembly plant here to increase production of the all-new Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups, especially crew cab models.

“We are building Chevrolet and GMC crew cab pickups at record volume and mix levels…and the $24 million investment will allow us to build even more,” says Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO.

Combined sales of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 crew cab pickups, which launched in the second half of 2018, were up 20 percent in the first quarter of 2019 vs. a year ago. GM is projecting another significant increase for the second quarter. Customer deliveries of the double-cab models built in Fort Wayne began during the first quarter.

The $24 million will be invested to enhance the plant’s conveyors and other tooling to support the increased production. The work will be completed this summer.

GM has now invested more than $1.2 billion in the plant since 2015. Since 2009, GM has invested $23 billion in U.S. manufacturing – more than one-quarter of every dollar spent by automakers.