GM to announce big expansion of Arlington plant on Tuesday

General Motors will announce Tuesday that it’s spending more than $1 billion to once again expand its Arlington Assembly Plant, where it builds its full-size sport utility vehicles.

The company wouldn’t comment on specifics of the investment. But it has scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m. Tuesday to be attended by the company’s labor relations chief and the United Auto Workers vice president who handles GM.

Demand for GM’s big SUVs has been so strong that the plant can’t make them fast enough. The Arlington factory has about 3,800 hourly workers on three shifts making SUVs such as the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, the GMC Yukon and the Cadillac Escalade.

Sales of the SUVs are up more than 10 percent through June, according to Autodata Corp.

In April, the Arlington City Council approved the creation of a reinvestment zone for the plant that would offer tax incentives worth $28.7 million for the project. At the time, city officials said the expansion could add more than 500 jobs.

The Arlington plant, which opened in 1954, just completed an expansion last year that added a stamping facility.

This story was originally published July 13, 2015 at 2:05 PM with the headline "GM to announce big expansion of Arlington plant on Tuesday."