DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors said on Monday that it will invest more than $545 million in five Michigan assembly and component plants, even as it slashes jobs and closes plants elsewhere.

GM targeted the investment to its Pontiac Assembly Center and Pontiac stamping plants, an engine plant in Romulus, a transmission plant in Ypsilanti and the ultra-modern Lansing Grand River assembly plant.

GM's Lansing Grand River plant, one of five GM plants in Michigan reportedly in line for $500 million in new investment.

The investment will also benefit its Lansing Grand River, Ypsilanti Transmission and Romulus Engine plants.

"GM's investments demonstrate our commitment to continuously improve our products," said Joe Spielman, vice president and general manager of GM North America Manufacturing, in a statement. "They also show our dedication to strengthening our Michigan manufacturing operations."

In November, GM announced it planned to close 12 plants and facilities and trim 30,000 hourly jobs in North America as it cut capacity in an effort to stem ongoing automotive losses. Several of the locations being hit by closure plans are in Michigan.

GM lost $8.6 billion in 2005 and in January it announced it was cutting the company dividend 50 percent, as well as cutting pay for officers and board members and trimming medical and retirement benefits for salaried retirees.

GM made the expansion announcement at its Pontiac Centerpoint Campus in Pontiac, Mich., at an event attended by Governor Jennifer Granholm.

"GM's decision to invest more than a half billion dollars in these manufacturing plants clearly signals their belief in our highly skilled and dedicated work force," she said. "Because the automotive industry is such an important cornerstone of our state's economy and livelihood, we are thankful that GM has chosen to further invest in Michigan."

The announcement is an important piece of good news for the Michigan economy, which in addition to the GM plant closings is also facing a plant closing in Wixom, Mich., by Ford Motor Co. (Research) as that company has announced its own plans to close 14 plants across North America and cut 30,000 jobs.

The state has also been battered by the bankruptcy and a management demand for sharp pay and benefit cuts at the nation's largest auto parts maker, Troy, Mich.-based Delphi. Numerous smaller auto parts makers are also in bankruptcy or in financial trouble as the financial woes of the auto manufacturers hit their sales.

Michigan lost about 20,500 manufacturing jobs in 2005, according to Department of Labor figures, or about 3 percent of that job base, during a time when manufacturing jobs nationwide declined less than 1 percent. The state was responsible for about one in four lost manufacturing jobs nationwide during the year.

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