GM chief executive Mary Barra will visit the Fairfax plant May 4

General Motors chief executive Mary Barra is scheduled to visit the automaker’s Fairfax plant in Kansas City, Kan., on May 4 to celebrate the recent production of the company’s 500 millionth vehicle globally.

Barra will be joined by Alan Batey, GM’s North America president. The two GM executives will hold a news conference at the plant that Monday morning, the company said in a news release Tuesday.

GM did not provide any other details.

The Fairfax plant builds the Buick LaCrosse and the Chevrolet Malibu. The plant has about 3,900 hourly and salaried employees and recently completed $600 million in improvements, including a new paint shop.

Last week, GM showed off a redesigned 2016 Malibu at the New York Auto Show that is longer and has more legroom than the current model. Designed with higher-strength but lighter-weight steel, the new Malibu is expected to be about 300 pounds lighter than its predecessor.

The current Malibu has not sold as well as GM would have liked in the competitive midsize sedan segment.

This story was originally published April 7, 2015 at 1:15 PM with the headline "GM chief executive Mary Barra will visit the Fairfax plant May 4."