To keep up with growing customer demand, General Motors has announced plans to increase production of its Theta-based crossovers, the Chevrolet Equinox and the GMC Terrain.
Currently, the Equinox and Terrain are produced at GM’s CAMI Automotive plant in Ingersoll, Ontario. GM will expand the plant’s body shop capacity to produce extra Equinox units beyond the current capacity. These assemblies will then be shipped to GM’s Oshawa, Ontario plant for paint and final assembly.
This production plan is somewhat unique: GM is trying to avoid potential production over-capacity situations at CAMI, where increased assembly volumes may cause quality issues (read: production mistakes and inefficiencies). Instead, GM has decided to utilize its assets and facilities in this creative, timely, and – most importantly – cost-effective way.
The increased demand for the crossovers is also resulting in positive outcomes for factory workers. The Oshawa plant will add a third shift to support Equinox production on the Consolidated Line in October, returning approximately 600 workers back to the plant. The story gets even better for CAMI, where all laid off employees will soon be recalled, while additional body shop volume required to support the Equinox will result in the need of about 70 new jobs by August of this year.
The GM Authority Take
This is great news all around. The Equinox and the Terrain are both doing extremely well in the marketplace, with the former registering a 132 percent year-over-year jump in sales in the month of February. The plan also enables CAMI to boost Terrain production volumes, although it seems that this is not what’s being announced at this time.
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