Chevy Silverado HD, GMC Sierra HD First To Come Out Of Oshawa
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GM Authority can exclusively reveal that the Chevy Silverado HD heavy-duty pickup truck and its corporate cousin, the GMC Sierra HD, will be the first vehicles built at the GM Oshawa plant in Ontario, Canada when it re-opens this fall.
The Chevy Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 will be built there too, but production of those light-duty trucks will begin at a later – and as yet unspecified – date.
Vehicle manufacturing in the area dates back to the 19th century, when the McLaughlin company built first horse-drawn carriages and later automobiles. It then became the birthplace of many GM vehicles, latterly including the now discontinued Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS.
Vehicle production at Oshawa ended in December of 2019 – a GMC Sierra built at that time was raffled off, raising $117,000 CAD for the Durham Children’s Aid Foundation. Thereafter, General Motors intended to use the factory for parts production and metal stamping, and built a test track for autonomous vehicles.
However, within a year (and with the encouragement of Canadian labor union Unifor), GM reversed its original decision and decided to invest at least $1 billion CAD in reconstructing the plant.
Michelle Burnham, Buick GMC Product Communications Manager, GM Canada, declined the opportunity to reveal production mix plans when speaking to GM Authority. However, she did say, “We are designing the Oshawa facility to be flexible, so we can align our production with customer demand.”
The 2022 Chevy Silverado HD and 2022 GMC Sierra HD will differ only in detail from their 2021 model-year equivalents. Both will be powered either by the naturally aspirated 6.6L V8 L8T gasoline engine, which produces 401 horsepower and 464 pound-feet of torque and is mated to GM’s six-speed automatic transmission, or by the turbocharged 6.6L V8 L5P diesel from the Duramax family, which makes 445 horsepower and 910 pound-feet of torque and is paired with a 10-speed automatic.
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The Chevy HD Silverado….. the pick-up with the worst-looking, most gosh-awful front-end on it of all of the U.S. pick-ups. Plain old FUGLY! What the hell were they thinking ?
So happy I bought a 2019 GMC Denali HD while they look half way decent.
Does this represent strictly additional capacity, or will this affect the build mix or labor force needs at the relatively nearby GM Flint Assembly facility which currently builds these same two vehicles?
It will be additional capacity. Flint is still hiring and is looking for ways to squeeze more trucks out of that plant.
Make them in the USA!
You really, really need to educate yourself on final assembly points. Just because a vehicle has a particular final assembly point, does not mean all or even a majority of its parts are from that country of final assembly. North America and others all benefits because many of the parts are of USA or Canadian or Mexican or Korean or Chinese or German or French or Italian origin. Every other manufacturer does that too. Stop being so introspective and realize there are other counties outside of the USA.
Connect the dots.Technology has increased the speed of the USA going broke.Look at the stocks markets and you can see whos doing great and who thes companies are dealing with out of our Country.I have seen this grow from the 50s.This is not good and I see it getting worse until the take over of the USA and its Independence.I would say we are 75% there.
At one the vast majority of “Big 3” vehicles were built in the USA as well as not if the parts being produced here as well.
Canada isn’t a half bad place to build them. At least they aren’t Tijuana Taxi’s coming out of Mexico. Or worse yet coming from Korea or China.
I’ve been a Chevy person all my life but it seems like the people at the top are Incompetent it’s pretty bad when all the other auto manufacturers have way better design studios plus I own a 2017 Silverado Regular Cab Short Bed and I can’t even buy a New one cause they don’t offer it anymore! The leadership is DESTROYING GM!!!
Thank you GM Canada and USA for this great opportunity to build top quality and fabulously styled GM pickup truck in the Great White North.
I think GM’s response to Walt is so disrespectful all we’re saying is MADE In AMERICA is what we want! What we want is AMERICA FIRST keep our own people working at this point we don’t care about other countries!
Are other countries supposed to buy our movies, music, software, food, medical devices …?
So what you’re saying to Canadian is to buy a Toyota truck?
You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Chill Ronald. Up here in the boons I also want to replace my ’14 Sierra reg. cab short box with the new 6.6 option. Can we order from Mexico?
I agree that the front of the Silverado’s are ugly as hell. In 2017 I switched to GMC. Am I am glad I did, I love my Denali. Am I glad they will be starting to improve the interior’s. The Escalade interior is awesome. Learn from that. I think of Canada as a brother country. I don’t mind building there. I used to drive AMC Eagles. They were made in Brampton, ON.
For those of you in the USA that do not like any GM vehicles built in Canada, shame on you. You have a bad memory. What Country is always beside you when you need it. Wasn’t it Canada that saved your Citizens that were held hostage in an American Embassy yrs. ago. Did you also forget Canada has been supplying oil, steel, and forest products to the USA for years. Canada and the USA are partners in NATO and also partners in the Defense of the USA and Canada from Alaska to Newfoundland & Labrador. We share the St. Lawerence River and our Hydro when needed can be supplied to the USA by turning a switch. Remember 9/11. Canadians opened their homes to thousands of Americans when their flights were grounded in Canada. Canadian Sailors, Soldiers, and Airforce personnel have served and died besides American Military, and when needed Police and Fire have responded to help each other when called upon. Canadian Nurses cross the border every day to help in US Hospitals. Those that are blind to the USA and Canada’s history of partnership and helping each other – I feel sorry for you. In my opinion you don’t deserve to call North America home, and you are an insult to 99.9% of Americans.
Canada also helped hide draft dodgers during the Vietnam war. BTW, I didn’t see any Canadians in the jungle but I did see Aussies.
In addition, at least 30,000 Canadians volunteered to serve in the American armed forces during the war. At least 134 Canadians died or were reported missing in Vietnam. F^&king educate yourself before making bullshit comments !!!!
Never saw one Canadian in Vietnam. Not 1.
Keep on denighing history and read this link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/lost-to-history-the-canadians-who-fought-in-vietnam-1.3304440
Dan : As a Canadian with no skin in the game regarding who served and who didn’t ( and I do Thank You for putting on the uniform and serving your country). But I have to ask & with all do respect.. Wtf does The Vietnam War have to do with truck production in Oshawa ?
Not much at all. Canada is our greatest neighbor where national security is concerned. And fwiw, I respect any Canadian who made the “personal” choice to become an active member in the US military during that fiasco although a few had dual citizenship. Thing about war is that they are usually about religion or profit.
Wars can have other motivations besides religion and profit. I remember distinctly that many of my most liberal friends, who shared my anti Vietnam war sentiments, were shocked, and had their convictions shaken, when they saw the desperation in the months following as Vietnamese “boat people” frantically tried to leave the country rather than be subject to the victors. Something similar might happen after the US leaves Afghanistan.
Up until the collapse of the Soviet Union any activity the US was involved in was focused on defeating that Empire. For that millions of East Europeans are eternally grateful – but it had to do with freedom, not profit or religion. Activities after that Cold War victory might indeed have more to do with profit and religion.
And don’t forget the Iranian hostage crisis when a Ken Taylor, Canadian diplomat, educator and businessman, best known for his role in the 1979 covert operation called the “Canadian Caper” when he was the Canadian ambassador to Iran. With the cooperation of the American Central Intelligence Agency, Taylor helped six Americans escape from Iran during the Iran hostage crisis by procuring Canadian passports for the Americans to deceive the Iranian Revolutionary guard by posing as a Canadian film crew scouting locations. Before the escape, the six Americans spent several weeks hiding in the homes of Taylor and another Canadian diplomat, John Sheardown. Who needs Canada? YOU DO !
I suspected that Oshawa was going to be used for HD’s. The only reason GM doesn’t have a larger share of commercial truck sales is because they just can’t build enough of them. GM can’t keep up with light duty demand either, so another plant producing HD’s should allow Flint to produce more 1500’s. This gives GM 4 full size truck plants. Ford will lose truck market share next year, wait and see.
Obama forced GM to shut down the pickup truck production in Oshawa about 5 months after he took office. At that time, the Oshawa plant had the highest quality of vehicles of any GM plant in the world. Obviously the Light Duty 1500 versions which make up about 70 percent of the sales in Canada, will still be made in the USA until probably the end of Q1 or sometime in Q2 of 2022. For patriotic Canadians, who want to support the companies that build vehicles in Canada, they will choose a GM pickup over a Ford, Dodge, Toyota, Nissan or Honda pickup, to show support. This patriotic factor alone can be worth 15 to 25 percent of GM sales in Canada. It also overflows support for other GM vehicles such as cars and SUV’s. Let’s not forget that the LPG propane factory option will be in demand in Canada when the federal carbon tax will be about $1.26 per U.S. gallon for diesel fuel by mid 2023, brought in by the Liberal Party of Justin Trudeau. The carbon tax for a LPG propane fueled vehicle will be about 67 cents per U.S gallon by mid 2023. Those prices are just the carbon tax on the two fuels including the HST federal sales tax on the carbon tax. The GM research on LPG vehicles over the past 35 years, was based in Oshawa. About 2 weeks ago in Toronto diesel fuel was selling for $1.14 a liter at the pump and the same station was selling high octane propane for just 64.9 cents per liter. Do the math. In 2 or 3 years, nobody will want to buy a car or a Light Duty pickup truck with a diesel engine, with the extra 60 cents cost of carbon tax per U.S. gallon. Let’s not even talk about later years such as 2030 when the carbon tax on each liter or gallon of fuel will be double what it will be in mid 2023. How about paying an extra carbon tax on diesel fuel of $2.60 per U.S. gallon towards the end of this decade. That’s not the cost of the fuel, just the carbon tax. LPG propane is part of the Hydrogen Highway because it is about 37 percent hydrogen. Propane burns cleaner than Nat gas CNG because of the high hydrogen content. I love the 104 octane rating of propane which gives a nice power boost in any gasoline built engine. Triple engine life using propane compared to gasoline is just icing on the cake as well.
Talk all the smack you want… It’s a fact there are more old Chevy trucks on the road then any other brand,they are easy to fix, the parts don’t cost an arm and a leg, the technology of 15 or 20 years ago was simpler. Most HD TRUCKS you see are workhorses for pulling landscaping equipment, horses, construction job sites, home improvement… These people don’t care what the truck looks like because in 6 months it will be beat up on the outside and dirty on the inside. Besides these trucks are way to expensive when’s the last time you saw an add for a W/T basic work truck!?