The new 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and 2019 GMC Sierra won’t call the Flint, Michigan, assembly plant home, but GM has a host of upgrades planned for the plant.
The Detroit Free Press reported on Monday that GM plans for a four-week-long shutdown at the Flint plant, which builds the current-generation Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra and HD variants. When the plant reopens, it will still build the same trucks, according to Tom Wickham, a GM spokesperson.
“GM has constructed new body, paint and trim shops at the Flint complex and will use downtime in July to upgrade equipment in the assembly area,” he said.
The 2019 Silverado and 2019 Sierra pickups will be assembled at the Fort Wayne, Indiana, plant as well as Silao, Mexico.
Both the UAW and Wickham said the extended shutdown is not unusual these days since the upgrades coming to plant are rather extensive.
“If you have a lot of equipment to put in and you’re updating the general assembly area, you will take more time now,” Wickham said.
“We just can’t build enough of (those trucks). All last year, our plant was working six days a week,” Ryan Buchalski, president of UAW Local 598, said after calling the shutdown a positive move.
The Flint assembly employs 3,164 workers with 2,930 of them on an hourly pay scale.
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