General Motors has added a second shift to its Oshawa Assembly plant in southern Ontario as it looks to ramp up production of the popular Chevy Silverado HD nameplate.
The automaker began assembling the 2022 Chevy Silverado HD at the newly renovated Oshawa plant in November of 2021 and has spent the past two months or so building the truck on a single shift. In a press release published Monday, GM Canada president Scott Bell confirmed the automaker had added a second shift at Oshawa Assembly as it looks to meet the growing demand for the Silverado nameplate.
“Adding a second shift of truck production so quickly after launch continues Oshawa’s long history of speed and agility and helps GM meet strong customer demand for its largest and most important market segment,” Bell said. “And with a new, diverse workforce that includes more women in production roles, the impact of an inclusive culture is immediately noticeable the moment you step inside the plant.”
The press release issued Monday went on to profile five different women who are currently employed at the GM Oshawa Assembly plant. The automaker proudly touted its more diverse Oshawa workforce to the media earlier this month, which is made up of equal parts men and women. The Oshawa plant currently employs 1,800 hourly workers, with more jobs likely to be added once production of the light-duty Chevy Silverado 1500 begins there later this year.
The Oshawa facility underwent one of the fastest plant turnarounds in GM history, with renovation work beginning in November of 2020 and production restarting there one year later in November of 2021. The automaker had to make some concessions during this ultra-fast renovation, which is why the Oshawa plant will produce the Chevy Silverado nameplate only, and not the closely related GMC Sierra. Regardless, Oshawa Assembly remains the only GM plant that can produce both light-duty and heavy-duty trucks on the same line.
GM previously produced the Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS sedans at Oshawa, however the plant was shuttered at the end of 2019 after GM decided to discontinue these two model lines. The space was used for a limited amount of parts production and to make PPE amid the COVID-19 pandemic before GM earmarked it for pickup production.
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Comments
Glad to hear they are building more trucks!. Maybe the chip shortage is getting better.
Just wish they would ship the trucks that are built from the plant. My order was built 2 months ago. Its released for transit but “delayed” for some reason. I guess shipping is an issue now.?
All our yards are full with HD Trucks ready to ship! I know they started shipping trucks by rail last week.
Hows the shipping progress going? My truck is sitting there as well and I hear since Oshawa is a a new plant that they do a batch and hold to release thousands of trucks at a time to AWC. AWC rep told me they are always ready to ship but Oshawa GM won’t release the VINs
Sam, do you have any insight as to the shipping issues? I also have a 2500 HD that has been complete for quite some time and is just sitting in a lot somewhere waiting to be shipped.
How is the shipping progress going at Oshawa? Any idea how many trucks leave per day?
My ’14 S.L.E. RC/SB from Fort Wayne was an excellent build. Will be looking forward to repeating from our new Oshawa Assembly when available.
Having the same issue here too. My truck is supposed to be on a transport trailer and no driver. I’m a G.M. retiree and wonder how they are treating non g.m people. Very frustating.
They need to set up a third shift on redesigning the worst looking Chevy truck ever made. It’s by far the ugliest one on the rd.. I’ve been a GM guy my whole life and I wouldn’t drive one if gm gave it to me. All my gm friends feel the same way, one die hard Chevy friend that has a ton of Chevy trucks went and bought a new Ford.. we asked him wth he said I’m sorry but I wouldn’t be caught dead in one! Get ur crap together gm
Well only time will tell to see how reliable these pickup trucks are. If there’s issues in the first 3 years I guess nothing has changed. It’s going to be a wait and see we’ll see what happens. There’s already problems with currently with the ones now.
Yeah why is GM building trucks in Canada not the USA job are need here USA Chevy truck stands for American made build truck.. So is it’s a union shop? Well I’m my Hummer is American made one I’ll go buy a Ford made in America.
White men created this industry. Now GM only wants women and “diversity”. Maybe someone can get GM to commit to never laying off in these “diverse” plants and to pay these spectacular women employees more than they pay those who are on the UAW old contract. Let’s see how much they are committed to diversity.
Really!
To be specific, this was the start of Full-time production of the Second Shift in General Assembly (Trim & Chassis). The rest of the plant has been running on Two Shifts since end of November, and Three since last week.
Also, the Parts Production business in Oshawa is still operational. “Oshawa Operations” or “GM Oshawa CCA” is the business name. Parts production is taking part on most of the old Flex line where GM Oshawa built the Impala and XTS before closing.
I heard that they were going to restart production of the Double Cab 2500 at Oashawa. Any truth? Been trying to order one since August.
over 50 000 trucks sitting in storage lots in Flint Mi rotting out,mice are getting into them,eating wire harness creating electric failures,,dead batterys,its just pitiful,they are sending production now off the assembly line to dealers while those made from AUG to Jan are rotting-my order was placed 7-29- 2021,built 11-29-been rotting since then,i am going to tell my dealer this week he can eat it,i am done waiting i don,t want the truck now. I may reorderand request Oshawa build my truck,I live in Flint and its sad,my truck is sitting in a lot 5 miles from my house-pitiful
Oshawa trucks are just sitting as well. Ours has been built for a couple months and it hasn’t left their lot. Nobody can seem to answer the question as to why.
Mine was built in Oshawa on 1/14/22 and will be delivered to Washington State next week.
Currently the rumor is they’re waiting for chips.
Yes, I have purchased a 2022 Silverado HD turbo diesel and yet to receive it. The dealer required full price payment sight unseen. I’m getting same story, built in Oshawa, but stuck in Michigan with no explanation. I worked for GM 20 years, this sounds like same old bad GM management non-transparency on the issue. I may request a refund if it goes on much longer and find something elsewhere.
Patiently waiting. Mine was built in Oshawa in November 2021. Its still not shipped and the dealer cant get anywhere with GM either.
I went on line to get update at GM.com and they email me every week. Unfortunately its the same email 4 months straight.
Released to carrier ,ready to be shipped….
GM Storing
Unfinished Trucks
In Muddy Field,
Moving Them With
Forklifts &
Bulldozers
It seems these trucks are being stored pending chips or other missing parts. I would guess it will be awhile before they are shipped. They are in a race as trucks produced a year or more ago can no longer be legally sold as new trucks. So if there are still 2021’s waiting for parts, they will get parts first before the 2022’s due to this timing issue. Also, the muddy dirt and grass fields they are being stored in as well as the handling by fork trucks is not the best to preserve the quality of the trucks.