2014 Cadillac ELR

2014 Cadillac ELR (courtesy image)

DETROIT, MI – General Motors began shipping Cadillac ELR luxury coupe to dealerships on Tuesday, marking another milestone in the return of the Cadillac brand to the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant.

The ELR is GM’s first luxury-branded extended range electric vehicle. The shipment is the first batch of Cadillacs sent out after a two-year hiatus. Cadillac DTS sedans were the most recent car built there, with production lasting from 2006 to 2011.

GM also builds the Chevrolet Impala, Malibu and Volt at the plant, as well as the Opel-branded Ampera, which is essentially the Volt for the European market.

The first vehicle ever built at the plant, which sits in both the cities of Detroit and Hamtramck, was a Cadillac Eldorado, which rolled off the line in 1985. The company has since built more than 3.5 million Cadillac, Buick and Chevy cars at the site.

There are 1,436 hourly workers and 183 salaried employees at the plant, according to figures updated by GM on Monday. The workers are represented by the UAW Local 22 union.

Also on Monday, GM announced

in the plant to build a new Logistic Optimization Center. The move will create 50 new jobs. The logistics center will add 450,000 square feet space to the facility.

The 3.6 million-square-foot Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant is located at 2500 E. Grand Blvd. in Detroit.

David Muller is the business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.