The beautiful sound of that Corvette Stingray engine humming down the highway could well be the theme song for the Tonawanda Engine Plant, where the seventh-generation Corvette’s powerplant is being manufactured.
Life hasn’t always been so rosy for the New York plant, which suffered through the auto industry downturn during the recent recession but has roared back to life with a vengeance thanks to the success of the new Stingray.
In fact, WardsAuto has just named the standard 2015 Corvette engine, which makes up to 460 horsepower, among the 10 best engines for the second year in a row.
Little wonder, since the amazing engine helps the Stingray go from zero to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds while offering great fuel efficiency.
“Anybody who’s seen and experienced the new Corvette that the new product goes into has been nothing but impressed with its execution and performance, and it works like a charm,” said Tonawanda Plant Manager Steve Finch.
General Motors chose Tonawanda in 2010 to build two new product lines – the Ecotec 2.0/2.5 liter engines and V-8 small block engine — representing $825 million in investment.
The rejuvenated plant has grown to 1,734 employees and started manufacturing the small-block V8s in mid-November. Finch says the start-up offered some challenges to his team but nothing unusual when it comes to launching a new engine line.
Now that the upgrades to the facility are done, Finch is ready to get down to the business of making the best engines possible.
“It’s kind of the first year in a long, long time that we’re in a steady state of operational basis,” Finch said, “so we’re really looking forward to taking advantage of that, and making the operation as efficient as possible; that’s the big thing we’re looking for next year.”
Source:
Buffalo Business First
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