General Motors Company says it still sees a future in Oshawa, Ont.

Nearly two months after the last vehicles rolled off the line at GM Canada’s Oshawa plant, the company’s Canadian head says it continues to sink money into the plant.

“We’re committed to be in Oshawa for the long-term,” GM Canada President and Managing Director Scott Bell told BNN Bloomberg in an interview on Tuesday. “We have committed $170 million into Oshawa alone – into that facility – to rethink and reinvent what this plant can be going forward.”

Bell added that GM is trying to reshape the plant for a future beyond assembly.

“We actually are starting a new business in Oshawa at that facility and that money will go to a parts operation, a stamping facility, leveraging the capacity of that plant,” he said.

Bell added the plant could also potentially be used to manufacture parts for other companies, expanding its value beyond the GM brand.

“The very cool thing about that is it’s not only for General Motors, but we’re starting to get outsiders looking in and asking (us) to do business for them. We do see an opportunity to grow,” he said.  

Bell added that GM will continue to have a strong Canadian footprint, especially with the new NAFTA deal, despite the Trump administration’s ‘Buy American’ push.

“Our commitment here is, we have a plant in Ingersoll, (Ont.) We just unveiled the new Equinox at the Chicago Auto Show earlier this week that we’ll be producing there,” Bell said. “We have a powertrain plant in St. Catharines, (Ont.) that was building vehicles for many plants across North America.”

“We have a very strong footprint here from the manufacturing side of the house. And then what we’re doing on the engineering and research-and-development side is very impressive.”