General Motors will cut production of the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano, both built at its Orion Assembly plant in Detroit, amid unusually high inventories of both of the compact cars, Automotive News reports.
The plant will be idled from February 16 to April 6, sources close to the situation told AN. Sonic inventories currently sit at a 127-day supply, the highest level in a year, while Verano inventories are at an 84-day supply. The abundance of compact cars is being chalked up to low gasoline prices, which has weakened the case for small cars and sparked an uptick in truck and SUV sales.
GM refused to comment on the matter, with a company spokesperson telling AN the company does not discuss its production plans and they will “build to market demand.”
This announcement comes not long after GM said it would lay off 160 Orion workers amid production cuts. The slowdown will reduce the production rate from 45 cars per hour to 38.
Comments
Buick verano is one beautiful car specialy inside but the front grill yak,,,Buick need to change this grill..
I think its a beautiful vehicle inside and out! the ride comfort is also incredible for a sedan its size in this price point.
Although the new concept grill is a lot better i think. has a more premium look in my opinion.
YOU, obviously, missed the entire point of this article.
IMO the only thing they needed to do was put a more fuel efficient engine in it. Then they could dump the $199 base model lease incentive in order to keep them moving off the lots quicker. This car is plenty good other than the gas mileage and a couple of features competitive models offer that it doesn’t. 🙂
Why GM does not export American made car to North Africa and midle east especially Chevrolet.
The big flaw here is like Paul said the base car. If you want to show people you are an more upscale car you do not offer a base model.
Second where is the marketing for this car? So many see a small Buick and just assume as in the past it is just a Chevy with more chrome. GM need to better market this model and to get the message out that there is more to a small Buick today than in the past. So many just don’t know.
As for the Middle East GM sells many cars in markets there to the east. Truck, SUV’s and Corvettes/ Camaro’s are very popular. I have many customers buying aftermarket parts there. These are the oil rich countries that are stable.
As for N Africa. They just never had a solid market there and as unstable as some areas are it would be difficult to establish one now. For the number of vehicles they would sell it would be very expensive to do this.
Problem is that the Cruze is more car, offers better retail incentives (rebates) and a far more competitive lease. The Sonic is a neat little car (I like having both a sedan and hatch), but it quickly gets pushed aside when it comes to bang-for-the-buck decisions customers make daily when comparing to the Cruze. The cost to build the car it too great to offer competitive lease deals. That would be a great way to move the car. In general, the price point is too close to the more-popular and more-polished Cruze.