Report: GM To Curtail Car Production And Cut Models In North America
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Overnight, locals reports surfaced that the Oshawa, Ontario, assembly plant in Canada would not have any product allocated after December 2019. The news effectively foreshadows the plant’s closure after years of bitter battles with Unifor, the local union.
However, a new report from Reuters on Monday suggests the cuts won’t stop at Oshawa. A source familiar with GM’s business plans said the automaker will announce a major restructuring effort today. The plan will include cuts to car production at underutilized plants and the end of some model lines, the source added on the condition anonymity
The Canadian union also reiterated that GM has a major announcement coming today after the automaker informed Unifor on Sunday that it will not receive any new product at Oshawa. Where the cuts will occur is unknown, but GM currently operates a handful of plants that build slow-selling passenger cars. Lordstown, Ohio, is a prime candidate for the chopping block. Detroit-Hamtramck also builds a host of sedans, and Fairfax, Kansas, builds the Chevrolet Malibu. However, Cadillac XT4 production could be Fairfax’s saving grace.
Oshawa currently builds the Cadillac XTS—set for expiration soon—and the Chevrolet Impala full-size sedan. Most recently, Oshawa began final assembly of previous-generation Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks as GM ramped up production of the new 2019 Silverado and 2019 Sierra.
It’s unclear if the announcement today will simply involve production layoffs and the discontinuation of certain models, or if GM plans to announce plant closures. No matter the severity of the news, it will come one week after GM closed out applications for salaried employee buyouts. The automaker offered buyout packages to thousands of salaried workers in an effort to trim costs. The automaker reportedly fell short of an internal quota for salaried employees who opted into the buyout, and layoffs are reportedly on the table.
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According to carsalesbase dot com, in 2007 Dodge sold 119,289 Chargers. That same year Chevrolet sold 311,128 Impalas. In 2017 Dodge sold 88,351 Chargers, while Chevrolet sold just 75,877 Impalas.
The demand for both cars clearly fell over that period, but the demand for one plummeted. Which leads me to wonder, what good are higher average transaction prices when demand for your products are sinking so fast that you can no longer make a case for building them?
In my view this is not simply a case of shifting vehicle demands, or driving dynamics, or just misreading the market. This is a case of completely shooting one’s self in the foot.
I could provide more examples and maybe even make my point a little clearer. But what’s so frustrating to me is that the people that gave this incarnation of the Impala the go-ahead, like so many other failed/unwanted GM products, are the same people that are supposed to be trusted to suddenly fix things!?
That makes no sense to me.
It’s General Motors–not the products they build–that is broken. And Mary, Reuss, and others desperately need put in check if GM is to truly thrive again.
Interesting stats on two similar products facing the same market dynamics.
What’s more, the new Impala is arguably a far more competitive offering than the 2007 that had about the same quality, engineering standards as the Cavalier used to. A true hooptie, with known issues GM refuses to fix by hiding behind the ‘NEW’ fassade; they cannot be held liable for things the “old” company did. Too bad they still do business just like the old company.
If GM drops the Impala I will be buying a large sedan from another manufacturer and they will lose not only my business but also my folks and numerous friends who have bought Impala’s for years.
You better hurry….that door is closing fast.
Mr.Yoman, What would you have GM do. Build a car that doesn’t make money for the company so you and your friends don’t have to consider other choices. I doubt they like making decisions that affect American workers but this is a business. I think you will find good choices in the market built in and out of the USA.
The family sized sized sedan has been trailing in sales for years now as people are buying SUVs and pickup trucks in place of the traditional cars. I owned an impala but have replaced it now as the end of that particular line is coming to a close end. I wonder too why the Impala wasn’t better marketed. When was the last time you saw an Impala commercial on tv or an ad on the internet or even the papers? I think they gave up on the sedans the same way Ford is getting rid of the Taurus. Older folks who drove a great deal of the sedans will soon have big pickups and SUVs to choose from. I can’t see either being an easy transition for the senior drivers that are still out on our roads today.
Well I’m buying an 18 or 19 Cruze before the years up. Personally there’s no way I’m following the sheeple and buying a big ass SUV. No way.
Buy a BOLT!
GM is telling us they don’t know how to build cars people want anymore.
But the buying public doesn’t want cars anymore, period, as evident in the steady year over year decline in car sales.
You can’t turn this around and say GM doesn’t make cars people want when people aren’t buying them in the same volume as they used to. That’s like saying Samsung doesn’t know how to make phones people want because their flip-phone isn’t selling like it did 15 years ago.
Man, you’re short-sighted.
Why then isn’t Toyota killing the Camry, BMW the 3, Audi the A4, Honda the Civic? You can’t change everything all the time depending on which way the wind blows, and maybe the aforementioned brands have more clout and loyalty because they didn’t do just that in the past.
At the very least GM is alienating potential buyers, not just of the models killed, but also their cash cows: How many potential Volt, Cruze, Impala owners would move up to a GM truck or SUV when the need arises, are lost to different brands now?
It’s coming…there will be a reckoning for Camry, 3, A4 and Civic….they will eventually be replaced with C/SUV variants as the market dictates….
The direction GM is going is no different then so many others when it comes to “ cars”.
Muscle cars will continue. Ford will always move the mustang as does Dodge with the charger and the challenger and the Chevy camaro will remain but the sedan will are disappearing and although the Chevy Cruz they say will continue it will be on the shopping block I’m certain not too far down the road.
Police vehicles have moved quickly from cars to SUVs
Taxi cabs are turning from cars to SUVs for handicap access now
Pickups that “ in the day “ were for those who owned farms or businesses are now people’s primary vehicle.
We do govern to some degree what the Big 3 are producing by what we are buying
People I would never ever imagine buying a full size pickup as there primary vehicle are doing just that in droves.
Sports or muscle cars I’m certain will remain but traditional sedans and I’m sure even smaller cars will be the dinasoar of the roadways.
I still think there is a market for the tradional car but the companies are watching what we’re buying and trucks and SUVs are now such a big percentage of the dealerships sales
You look at a dealership lot
Count the sedans
Count the trucks and SUVs
It’s sad to see the car disappear as it is
This honestly comes as no real surprise honestly as GM prepares to move to the four VSS platforms at that point, GM only really needs four US plants, one for the VSS-R, VSS-F, VSS-S and VSS-T vehicles. Honestly, with the move away from sedans, GM could actually drop down to three platforms, VSS-R, VSS-S and VSS-T. Honestly, General Motors should have 3 vehicle lineups, Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac. Buick is pretty much odd man out since it really sits in an awkward and pointless position with only one odd competitor and that is Lincoln, another pointless car brand. What would be cool and interesting would be for General Motors to take the VSS-R platform (Vehicle Strategic set-RWD), continue on with the next Generation Camaro but also bring up some of the Holden Commodore cars (which is what Chevy Did with the SS) but this time, give the car an actual name, even Commodore and Monaro would work with different trim levels, RS, SS, GTS, GTS-R and GTS-V with V6 and V8 engines. Honestly a lineup consisting of the Camaro coupe/convertible, the Monaro midsize and the Commodore full size would work out perfectly for the Chevrolet lineup. As far as the VSS-S (unibody SUV) lineup is concerned. An Acadia styled/sized SUV that would have a longitudinal engine layout, rear wheel drive based all wheel drive setup with the option for a few V8 engines, would sit in the lineup as the new Chevrolet Blazer/GMC Acadia. This vehicle would keep the current blazer’s Camaro-inspired styling but appeal to a wider range of buyers. a step down would be the Equinox which keeps a front longitudinal engine layout with AWD as the only option powered by the new 2.7L turbo-4 cylinder engine. Above that would be the VSS-T platform which needs to include the Colorado, the Tahoe as well as the Silverado and the Express van. The Tahoe needs 3-configurations 2-door, 4-door short wheel base and 4-door long wheel base. The 2-door Tahoe would resurrect the Blazer name as the Z71 Tahoe-Blazer. Then above that you would have the Tahoe and the Tahoe XL. Slotting below that would be the newly redesigned Colorado that would bear more of a resemblance to its larger sibling, the Silverado and feature trim levels such as the Sport Cat, the Sport Cat-R, the ZR2, Z71 Extreme, LS and LSX. The 1500 Silverado would feature an SS model, Cheyenne model and Scottsdale model while the Silverado HD vehicles would receive a new Scottsdale model as well. Lastly the Express Van would be a great spot to introduce more electric and Hybrid technology because you don’t have to worry about confined spaces and you would be able to have a great people hauler, camper, etc while having all the room for tech.
GMC would be the next on the lineup, focused completely on SUVs and trucks with the Denali lineup and AT4 lineup going strong on every model. For GMC, the lineup would include the GMC Acadia, GMC Yukon, GMC Sierra and GMC Vandura.
Of course above all of this would be Cadillac. Cadillac is starting to go in a different direction of Global luxury and I believe moving the Corvette from the Chevy Roster to the Cadillac Roster would be a smart move, offering a mid-engine twin turbo DOHC V8 would do wonders for the new car and help Cadillac truly challenge the rest of the modern European luxury world with a whole entire lineup of worthy cars.
Beyond that, I feel that GM could stand to do some different things engine wise. Granted, there is nothing better to me than a Push rod GM small block, but times are changing and the world is looking for smaller cubic displacement engines with more tech and all of that other stuff. Simply put, I’m not a huge fan of turbo engines for the most part, sure Caddy can keep them which would separate them from the rest of the lineup, but I could see GM doing a few DOHC naturally aspirated V8 engines and maybe a supercharged V8 for a few performance models as well. Quite honestly, I feel like Chevy could get away with a 400hp/405tq 4.6L V8 DOHC V8, a 480hp/450tq 5.0L DOHC V8, a 530hp/500tq 5.7L DOHC V8 and even a 725hp/730tq 5.7L Supercharged DOHC V8 along with the base 350hp/310tq 3.8L DOHC V6. Now obviously these engines I just listed would be predominantly for the Camaro, Monaro, Commodore and the trucks but the 350hp V6 would fit in nicely with other vehicles such as the smaller SUVs while the 310hp 2.7L turbo-4 fits in with the trucks, SUVs and even a base engine in the performance cars, bumped up to 320hp/390tq. Those engines backed with 10-speed automatics and 7-speed manual transmissions make for fuel efficient performance with smaller displacement, lightweight materials and a few other things.
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