General Motors recently announced it would invest a total of $1 billion USD re-tooling and upgrading its Wentzville Assembly plant in Missouri in order to prepare for the next-generation Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon.

An aerial view of GM Wentzville
The re-tooling will force GM to temporarily shut down the plant, with The Dayton Daily news saying the planned upgrades will affect production at Navistar’s in Springfiled, Missouri. The Navistar plant produces cutaway chassis cab versions of the GMT 610 commercial vans for GM and receives van cabs from the Wentzville plant, which, in addition to the Colorado and Canyon, also builds the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans. The plant will shut down its second line for two weeks starting January 2nd, suggesting re-tooling will begin at Wentzville shortly.

Chevrolet Express at Wentzville Assembly
Due to the line shut down, Navistar will temporarily lay off between 180 and 200 people at the Springfield plant early next year. The company just recently laid off 62 unionized Springfield workers after laying off 125 in September and another 30 in late November. It is in the process of scaling back production on its first line, which builds the Silverado Medium Duty and the related International CV. Chris Blizard, president of the UAW Local 402 union branch that represents workers at the plant, told The Dayton Daily news that the first line currently builds 97 trucks per day.
GM’s recent decision to keep producing its line of mid-size trucks in Wentzville will retain about 4,000 manufacturing jobs in the region. The $1 billion investment will fund an upgraded paint shop and body shop at the plant, along with new assembly machines, conveyors and other new tooling. GM has not said when it will start producing the next-generation Colorado and Canyon, though it is believed they will go on sale for the 2023 model year.
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Source: The Dayton Daily News
Comment
The Navistar Plant is in Springfield, Ohio, not Missouri.