GM to invest $20 million in Kansas City plant

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) - General Motors Co. is adding $20 million in new technology to a car assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas.

The company says the Fairfax Assembly plant is getting new machinery and special tools to make the Buick LaCrosse with eAssist, a new gas-electric hybrid technology that will boost the car's fuel economy. The LaCrosse sedan with eAssist, which GM says can get up to 37 mpg on the highway, goes on sale later this summer.

The eAssist technology includes shutting off the gasoline engine when the car stops at a traffic light, as well as a small electric motor that helps the car accelerate, reducing gasoline use.

The Fairfax plant employs around 3,900 workers. It also makes the Chevrolet Malibu midsize sedan.

No new jobs will be created at the plant. The investment is part of a larger GM expansion to create or keep about 4,000 jobs by investing $2 billion in 17 factories in the U.S. GM has already announced investments or more jobs at facilities in Defiance and Toledo, Ohio; Detroit; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Arlington, Texas; and Flint, Lansing, Warren and Bay City, Michigan.