Flint Engine South began operations in 2002.[2] It produced inline five and six cylinder versions of the GM Atlas engine[3][4] until that engine line was discontinued in 2009 alongside the GMT360 platform.[5] Shortly after Flint Engine South was completed, Powertrain Flint (aka Flint North) was closed and demolished.[6]
On September 25, 2008, GM announced a $370 million investment to build another engine plant at the Flint South complex. The new plant was designed to produce the 1.4L GM Family 0 engine ("FamZero") for the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt models beginning in 2010.[9] However, major work was suspended that December as the automotive industry crisis worsened,[10] eventually resulting in the General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization of 2009. By February 2009, GM announced that rather than a new plant, the existing plant would be retooled for FamZero.[4] That October, GM announced it was investing $200 million to complete the retooling, with production scheduled to start in late 2010.[11] In November 2010, GM announced additional investments in Flint to increase production to a planned 1,200 FamZero engines per day by the end of 2012.[7]
The plant was renamed to Flint Engine Operations in approximately 2011.[12] GM announced a $215 million investment in 2013 for the Flint plant, which included plans to retool and upgrade the plant to accommodate production of the new GM small gasoline engine (SGE) and updated HFV6 engines;[13] the SGE was scheduled to replace the FamZero.[14] When the second-generation Chevrolet Colorado was unveiled for North America that November, GM announced the optional 3.6L HFV6 engine would be built at Flint.[15] By 2015, Flint Engine Operations had built one million FamZero engines, shortly before shifting production to the 1.5L SGE I4 "Ecotec".[16]