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General Motors Using More Of Oshawa Plant Now Than It Has In Decades

With the recent reopening of the General Motors Oshawa Assembly plant, the American automaker is using more of the 10 million square foot production plant than it ever has before.

General Motors Oshawa plant interior

General Motors Oshawa plant interior

Speaking to Automotive News, GM Canada President Scott Bell said the automaker is currently using parts of the GM Oshawa Assembly plant that it hasn’t had to use for nearly 60 years. The plant began producing the 2022 Chevy Silverado HD late last year and will soon begin production of the light-duty Chevy Silverado 1500, as well.

“It’s damn near the whole place,” Bell told the publication. “We are leveraging and using parts of that facility that we haven’t commissioned since the ’60s.”
GM invested $1.3 billion into the Oshawa site to prepare it to produce the two Chevy Silverado model variants. Renovation work began in late 2020 and was complete before the end of 2021 – marking one of the fastest plant turnarounds in the automaker’s history. This quick turnaround is the reason why the GMC Sierra will not be produced at Oshawa alongside the closely related Silverado, with GM forced to make some concessions in order to get the site up and running in a timely manner.
Before pickup production began there, GM produced the Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS sedans. The plant was shuttered at the end of 2019 after GM decided to discontinue these two model lines. The plant also previously completed final assembly of the K2XX Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, which were sold alongside the newer GM T1-based Chevy and GMC trucks for a brief period as a cheaper alternative.
GM also previously used some of the floor space at Oshawa Assembly for limited parts production and to manufacture facemasks and other PPE at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Sam loves to write and has a passion for auto racing, karting and performance driving of all types.

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Comments

  1. This is a good thing, GM has had so much overcapacity, it needs to start utilizing its factory space.

    Reply
  2. GM s history started at the oshawa location with Mc laughlin-buick ,it should continue to produce vehicles there. I do however question the quote that they are using more than plant in 60 yrs. they say they are employing 1,700 ,when i worked there in 1977 GM oshawa had almost 23,000 employed. anyway good for GM to remember where they came from!

    Reply
  3. 1985 this plant made 19 billion for this company and 1990 we had 18,000 hourly and 13,000 salery, how about giving it all back. I worked in there 1960 to 1994 and in the 80’s when Saturn was slated for Oshawa it went south , I worked in Detroit as PDT rep.

    Reply
  4. I worked in Oshawa for GM for 38 years from 62 to 2001. For a while in the 60s we produced Buick, Olds, Pontiac, Chev Chevelle ,Acadians and Corvairs plus Chev and GMC pickups and School Buses. All at the same time in the North and South plants. We also built many parts at a stamping plant, battery plant and many parts for export to foreign countries. When the truck plant was closed it had the best quality and best profit of any GM plant in North America. Sometimes you just cant please everyone. We even formed our own Union after being screwed by the UAW in 1970. Show us a little respect…we earned it over 100 years for GM…

    Reply
  5. No mention of GM’s threats to the workers and the closing of the plant sounded like the final bell. Glad to see it’s not another GM graveyard. My XTS and Impala are superb. Now, just bring back sedans.

    Reply
    1. 1879 McLaughlin Carriage Co. Was started in Oshawa. This is great for Oshawa and the surrounding communities. Made in CANADA. The only pick up in the market that can make that claim. I hope people think about this when they purchase there next truck.

      Reply
  6. Quality Vehicles Come from this Plant

    Reply
  7. Whats the hold up to ship the HD trucks out of Oshawa? Been waiting for months! Anyone there with feet on the ground ever see trucks leaving the yard?

    Reply

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