GM’s OBB Plant In Ecuador Shuts Down Permanently This Week

As the company itself officially announced at the end of April, General Motors has just confirmed that the GM OBB plant in Ecuador will shut down permanently this week.

The GM OBB plant will close its doors for good on August 6^th, when the car manufacturer will produce the last vehicle on the production line of the largest automotive factory in Ecuador, located in the city of Quito. GM’s subsidiary in the country is ending its manufacturing operations and officially adopts a new business model exclusively for commercial purposes, importing all of the products it will sell in the Ecuadorian market.

“The national automotive industry has experienced significant changes in recent years due to the presence of new competitors and trade agreements,” said Director of Manufacturing and Quality at the OBB plant in Ecuador, Juan Landázuri. “This change has led the local industry to operate at 15 percent of its total capacity and we are under great pressure to find efficiencies. Other countries have more competitive linkages that have put pressure on local production,” he added.

The last second-generation Chevy D-Max produced at the GM OBB plant will roll off the lines on Friday, marking the final closure of the production line that had been operating on a single shift at well below its installed capacity. In fact, the Isuzu-sourced D-Max midsize pickup truck had been the only product produced at the plant for several years, accounting for only 13 percent of its total production volume.

Founded on October 1^st, 1975, the GM OBB plant concludes its production cycle after a near-50-year history in which it left an important mark as the largest automobile manufacturer in the Ecuadorian automotive industry. During its 49 years of operations, the OBB plant produced a variety of highly popular vehicles that became icons of the Ecuadorian market, such as the Chevy Vitara, the Chevy Sail, and the best-selling Chevy D-Max.

According to Reuters, the GM OBB plant currently accounts for 51 percent of automobile production in Ecuador and had a payroll of 320 workers whose contracts have been cancelled. “I have mixed feelings – I’m welding my last truck for General Motors in Ecuador,” said welding team leader Antonio Oramas, who joined the plant in 2004. “It will affect us a lot. Not all of us will have the same opportunity for a new job,” he added.