Update: The Financial Post reports the Oshawa facility will produce the Chevrolet Silverado to expand pickup production in North America. It is unclear if Oshawa will partially assemble the truck, or if the plant will handle full production. The report states a January 2018 start date for Canadian production.
Details are continuing to trickle out regarding the tentative labor agreement between Canadian union Unifor and General Motors. The largest issue at hand was securing new product and investment for the Oshawa and St. Catherines facilities. In the final hours, GM agreed to invest.
The Globe and Mail reports GM will send unfinished SUVs from the Arlington, Texas facility to Oshawa for final interior assembly as part of the $520 million of investments heading to Canada. The deal would also extend production of the Cadillac XTS, which brand president Johan de Nysschen confirmed would see a significant refresh.
The deal will still see the consolidated line at Oshawa shut down, which currently builds the Chevrolet Equinox, but the flex line will be outfitted with to support truck and SUV production. With the investment, Oshawa will be the only assembly plant in North American capable of building both cars and trucks.
The GM Arlington assembly builds the GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe and the Cadillac Escalade, all hot sellers during the SUV and crossover boom the market is undergoing. Shipping unfinished SUVs to Oshawa may provide a flexibility boost to increase production of each SUV in Texas.
Comments
This should be updated. The newest reports are indicating that it will be pick up trucks, with the body shells coming from Fort Wayne:
http://business.financialpost.com/news/transportation/gm-to-build-silverado-pick-up-trucks-at-oshawa-plant-as-part-of-labour-deal-sources
Sean,
The story has been updated to reflect the new information. Thanks for keeping your eyes peeled!
Cheers,
-Sean (it’s weird to address and sign the same name…)
Thanks Sean! I’m from Canada so this has been all over the news, just thought I would pass it along.
Sean
The process seems completely inefficient. Do three quarters of the job in one place and then ship (by train) 1200 miles (2000kms) for final assembly then distribute from there back to the US where 90% of the sales will be.
I know right. Seems that way. But, maybe it allows them to increase their tackt time for the sake of quality on interior assembly. Thus allowing the Texas facility to have more vehicles produced daily
Could be right but I did not think Arlington had a capacity issue.
Yes, but body shops usually have additional capacity — since the fixed investment is huge, they can’t just shuffle things like you can in general assembly. Thus you can make the extra full bodies and ship them
The alternative would probably require a huge additional cost in metal stamping press capacity (new dies, racks, etc.).
Shipping bodies — probably by rail — is probably more costly on a variable per unit basis not on a total cost per unit basis
I live in Montana and see many GM and Ford pickup trucks from Canada cruising here. Could be that these trucks planned
for assembly at Oshawa are for Canadian customers. In regards to the updated Cadillac XTS, that platform also is used for the Chevy Impala (not the “Classic” old platform) so it can be assumed the updated 2018 Impala will also be assembled at Oshawa.
This isn’t the most inefficient, long-distance method GM has ever used for building vehicles. Remember the Allante? GM shipped their completed bodies in 56 at a time aboard 747’s to Pininfarina from Italy to Michigan.
If there was a ‘reason’ to assemble, pickups in Canada – the Alberta, oil sands, since the ’80;s, has ‘consumed’ as many pickups, in both Canada & the US, as any other. single project. GM has fallen short on ‘assemble, where you sell’, in my opinion!
I work at the Arlington plant and there is a capacity issue. This still seem inefficient
I’ve owned three Silverado pickups built in Oshawa and all were very, very good pickups. Those Canadians know how to put one together.