General Motors employees report to their first day of work Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at a GM manufacturing facility in Kokomo, Indiana, where GM and Ventec Life Systems are partnering to produce Ventec VOCSN critical care ventilators in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

General Motors will build 30,000 ventilators for the national stockpile for $489.4 million to assist in the coronavirus pandemic, federal officials announced Wednesday.

The Department of Health and Human Services said the contract is the first for ventilators under the Defense Production Act, which was invoked last month by President Donald Trump.

The Detroit automaker will produce and deliver the ventilators to the government by the end of August, with the first 6,132 ventilators being delivered by June 1, the agency said. Production is expected to begin next week, according to a GM spokesman.

The cost is about half the price previously reported by The New York Times for a contract to build up to 80,000 ventilators for $1 billion. GM confirmed Wednesday that it is not profiting from the contract.

Shares of GM were up 1.8% during premarket trading. The stock is down 41.8% this year.