483 million GM dollars = 483 new jobs

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors announced Friday that it is planning to invest $483 million and add 483 jobs to its engine plant in Spring Hill, Tenn.

Mark Reuss, president of GM North America, said his company would invest the money in the powertrain factory through 2012.

"By coincidence, the result in new jobs is 483," he said, before a crowd of cheering auto workers. "No, we didn't plan it that way."

The additional investment and jobs are pending successful incentive negotiations with local and state officials, GM said in an announcement.

The additional employees will be brought back from among workers GM had earlier laid off. The plant already builds three versions of GM's Ecotec four-cylinder engine. The additional jobs are needed to add production of a next-generation variant of the engine which, GM said, is more fuel efficient and runs more smoothly.

"The engines made in Spring Hill will drive the success of GM to meet our customer demands for advanced powertrains which offer high fuel economy without sacrificing performance," said Reuss, in a corporate announcement.

Engines built at the plant are used in vehicles including the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain small SUVs and the Buick LaCrosse and Regal sedans. Engines built at the Spring Hill plant are used in cars built in the U.S. but they are also exported for use in cars built in Mexico and Europe.

The main assembly plant at Spring Hill, in which cars and SUVs were built, will not be restarted, however. That plant was idled last November. It was last used to build the Chevrolet Traverse large crossover SUV but work on that vehicle was shifted to a plant in Michigan.

The Spring Hill complex was originally built in the 1990s to produce Saturn cars.

CNNMoney.com staff writer Aaron Smith contributed to this report.