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A-123 may hire more in Livonia after getting big GM contract

More jobs building batteries could be on the way at A-1-2-3’s factory in Livonia.  The company just won a big contract with General Motors. 

A-123 builds batteries for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.  

The company recently hired its thousandth employee at the Livonia plant, and the new contract will likely mean more jobs in the future, perhaps hundreds more jobs.   

But General Motors is not revealing anything about the kind of vehicles it will put the A-123 batteries in, or where those vehicles will be sold. 

GM already has a separate contract with LG Chem of Korea to help build batteries for the Chevy Volt; that contract will stay in place. 

LG Chem will soon open a plant in Holland, Michigan where it will produce batteries for the Chevy Volt and the electric Ford Focus.  

Tracy Samilton covers energy and transportation, including the auto industry and the business response to climate change for Michigan Public. She began her career at Michigan Public as an intern, where she was promptly “bitten by the radio bug,” and never recovered.