GM announces Arlington Assembly plant will no longer make Cadillac Escalade
General Motors plans to move production of the Cadillac Escalade from its Arlington Assembly plant to Michigan, the company announced Tuesday.
The Escalade will be produced at GM’s Orion Assembly Plant in Orion, Michigan, starting in 2027. The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra light-duty pickup trucks will also move production to Orion.
“These moves will further strengthen our manufacturing footprint,” the company said in a statement.
The Escalade’s departure isn’t expected to change production levels at the Arlington factory, a GM spokesman said. With about 5,200 workers in Arlington, GM is one of the region’s major employers. The plant has runs 24 hours a day, six days a week, producing almost one vehicle per minute.
The Arlington Assembly plant at 2525 E. Abram St. manufactures some of GM’s most popular SUVs, the Chevy Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban and the GMC Yukon. Monthly sales of those three vehicles have increased this year, up from 2024 numbers.
In June 2023, GM announced plans to invest $500 million in the Arlington Assembly facility. The automaker has invested over $2 billion in the plant since 2013.
GM has accepted $480 million in grants from the state of Michigan to produce electric vehicles at the Orion Assembly plant, but no longer plans to make EVs there, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The company announced plans to invest $4 billion in its U.S. manufacturing facilities in June. Vehicle production at plants in Tennessee, Kansas and Michigan will be expanded as part of the investment.
New tariffs on imported cars & automotive parts
GM and other U.S. automakers have spent much of the year scrambling to anticipate and offset the impacts new tariffs could have on their business. Possible Trump administration tariffs have become an incentive for automakers to expand their U.S. manufacturing capabilities. GM’s CEO Mary Barra said she was supportive of Trump’s tariffs in May.
Opened in 1954, GM’s Arlington Assembly Plant has built vehicles for over 70 years. The company celebrated the facility’s anniversary last year at a ceremony marking the roll out of its 13 millionth vehicle— a Cadillac Escalade-V.
This story was originally published July 16, 2025 at 2:53 PM.
CORRECTION: Mary Barra is the CEO of General Motors. An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the CEO.
