GM to reopen Oshawa Assembly Plant

[AGR]

...to manufacture Silverado and Sierra.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/11/05/gm-truck-production-canada/

 

Good deal for the Canadians. So which plant loses the pickups? My guess is the Mexican plant. They can move products with a lower profit margin there. I would imagine Fort Wayne and Flint aren't going anywhere.

 

[J-150]

Unless they are repurposing an existing truck plant to EVs.

[rperez817]

32 minutes ago, AGR said:

So which plant loses the pickups? 

 

None. Demand for GM LD full size pickup trucks is extremely strong. Oshawa will supplement GM's plants that make those products currently (Fort Wayne & Silao). Mary Barra said of these vehicles "The fact is we simply can't build enough. And because we expect demand to remain strong, we must increase our capacity."

[atomcat68]

12 hours ago, AGR said:

...to manufacture Silverado and Sierra.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/11/05/gm-truck-production-canada/

 

Good deal for the Canadians. So which plant loses the pickups? My guess is the Mexican plant. They can move products with a lower profit margin there. I would imagine Fort Wayne and Flint aren't going anywhere.

 

That would make sense, or the Mexican plant could be repurposed to make the many EVs they have planned.

[rperez817]

19 minutes ago, atomcat68 said:

That would make sense, or the Mexican plant could be repurposed to make the many EVs they have planned.

 

GM's dedicated BEV assembly plants in North America as of now are Spring Hill, Orion, and Detroit Hamtramck (Factory Zero). Of course in the next couple decades as GM transitions to a 100% electric vehicle lineup, their other assembly plants will be repurposed as needed.

[92merc]

They needed to make space some where to build those 100's of Hummer EV pickups....

[fuzzymoomoo]

That makes what, 6? 7? plants GM has making full size trucks In a lower volume that what Ford builds with 3. Maybe GM needs to take a look at their plant efficiency. 

[rperez817]

3 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

That makes what, 6? 7? plants GM has making full size trucks In a lower volume that what Ford builds with 3. Maybe GM needs to take a look at their plant efficiency. 

 

3 plants currently.

• Fort Wayne (LD pickups)
• Silao (LD pickups)
• Flint Truck (HD pickups)

Oshawa pickup truck production starting in 2022 will supplement Fort Wayne and Silao.

 

GM is on track to surpass Ford for full size pickup truck production and sales this year. From the beginning of 2020 to the end of Q3 2020, GM sold 589,295 full size trucks while Ford sold 589,034.

Edited November 6, 2020 by rperez817

[AGR]

12 hours ago, rperez817 said:

 

GM's dedicated BEV assembly plants in North America as of now are Spring Hill, Orion, and Detroit Hamtramck (Factory Zero). Of course in the next couple decades as GM transitions to a 100% electric vehicle lineup, their other assembly plants will be repurposed as needed.

 

Spring Hill is not a dedicated EV plant. GM will continue to assemble 2 of Cadillac's ICE CUVs there.

[AGR]

6 hours ago, rperez817 said:

 

3 plants currently.

• Fort Wayne (LD pickups)
• Silao (LD pickups)
• Flint Truck (HD pickups)

Oshawa pickup truck production starting in 2022 will supplement Fort Wayne and Silao.

 

GM is on track to surpass Ford for full size pickup truck production and sales this year. From the beginning of 2020 to the end of Q3 2020, GM sold 589,295 full size trucks while Ford sold 589,034.

 

I count 6: Fort Wayne, Flint, Silao, and soon Oshawa. Hamtramck will build the EV  pickups. I assume fuzzymoomoo was talking about all fullsize trucks, so add Arlington. That's why I asked if one plant (presumably Silao) would build something else after Oshawa reopens.

Of course, Ford technically assembles fullsize trucks at four plants, if you include chassis cabs..

Edited November 7, 2020 by AGR

[fuzzymoomoo]

1 hour ago, AGR said:

 

I count 6: Fort Wayne, Flint, Silao, and soon Oshawa. Hamtramck will build the EV  pickups. I assume fuzzymoomoo was talking about all fullsize trucks, so add Arlington. That's why I asked if one plant (presumably Silao) would build something else after Oshawa reopens.

Of course, Ford technically assembles fullsize trucks at four plants, if you include chassis cabs..

Oh balls, I forgot about Ohio. They build the MD trucks there too. Where does GM build their MD trucks? 

[rperez817]

1 hour ago, AGR said:

 

I count 6: Fort Wayne, Flint, Silao, and soon Oshawa. Hamtramck will build the EV  pickups. I assume fuzzymoomoo was talking about all fullsize trucks, so add Arlington. That's why I asked if one plant (presumably Silao) would build something else after Oshawa reopens.

Of course, Ford technically assembles fullsize trucks at four plants, if you include chassis cabs..

Thank you for the clarification AGR sir. Counting future assembly sites, GM plants that produce or will produce pickup trucks are as follows.

• Fort Wayne
• Silao
• Flint Truck
• Detroit Hamtramck (Factory Zero) - start of production 2021
• Oshawa - start of production 2022

Arlington Assembly builds only SUVs, no pickup trucks as of now.

 

9 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

Oh balls, I forgot about Ohio. They build the MD trucks there too. Where does GM build their MD trucks? 

 

GM Medium Duty trucks are assembled under contract at the Navistar plant in Springfield, Ohio. 

 

[AGR]

13 hours ago, rperez817 said:

Arlington Assembly builds only SUVs, no pickup trucks as of now. 

 

He did say fullsize trucks, not pickups (fullsize BOF SUVs are trucks). I included Arlington because, after all, the plants he mentioned also make all of Ford's fullsize BOF SUVs.

 

Quote

GM Medium Duty trucks are assembled under contract at the Navistar plant in Springfield, Ohio. 

 

So we add another plant! Ford is still at four.

Edited November 7, 2020 by AGR

[rperez817]

1 hour ago, AGR said:

So we add another plant! Ford is still at four.

The Springfield plant is not a GM facility.

[blwnsmoke]

On 11/7/2020 at 12:19 AM, rperez817 said:

The Springfield plant is not a GM facility.

So are the vehicles built for free at the Springfield plant for GM?  Kudos to GM if they are built for free.  If not, then it is still another plant with another expense.

Edited November 8, 2020 by blwnsmoke

[rperez817]

28 minutes ago, blwnsmoke said:

So are the vehicles built for free at the Springfield plant for GM?  Kudos to GM if they are built for free.  If not, then it is still another plant with another expense.

 

Here is the initial press release from GM and Navistar of their collaboration. For MD Silverado, GM's responsibilities include components and engines. Navistar handles chassis configurations and final assembly. https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2015/sep/0930-navistar.html

[bzcat]

On 11/6/2020 at 7:28 PM, rperez817 said:

Thank you for the clarification AGR sir. Counting future assembly sites, GM plants that produce or will produce pickup trucks are as follows.

• Fort Wayne
• Silao
• Flint Truck
• Detroit Hamtramck (Factory Zero) - start of production 2021
• Oshawa - start of production 2022

Arlington Assembly builds only SUVs, no pickup trucks as of now.

 

 

GM Medium Duty trucks are assembled under contract at the Navistar plant in Springfield, Ohio. 

 

 

Compare apples to apples...

 

Ford builds super duty and fullsize SUV in the same plant. GM has them in two separate plants.

 

GM

Fort Wayne 1500

Silao 1500

Flint HD

Oshawa 1500 

Arlington SUV

Outsource medium duty from Navistar

Outsource van from AM General

 

Ford

Detroit F150

Kansas F150 (shared with Transit)

Kentucky SD and SUV

Ohio MD and cutaway/chassis (F-series and E-series)

 

The key difference here is Arlington... Ford can't match GM's volume output on fullsize SUVs. But elsewhere, Ford is doing more with less and doesn't rely on third party to build. 

 

I don't really understand why GM is setting up a 3rd line for 1500 pickup... it seems like that will create a lot of volume that will require incentives to keep inventory moving. Maybe one of the other plant will get a new product that will take up some of the volume. 

Edited November 9, 2020 by bzcat

[fuzzymoomoo]

4 hours ago, bzcat said:

Kansas F150 (shared with Transit)

Kansas City isn't really shared with Transit, final assembly is 2 separate lines.

[akirby]

32 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

Kansas City isn't really shared with Transit, final assembly is 2 separate lines.

But still one plant, right?

[fuzzymoomoo]

4 minutes ago, akirby said:

But still one plant, right?

In a technical sense, yes, but if you were to run the VIN of a KCAP built F-150 it will be listed as KCAP #1 as the build location, and a Transit will say KCAP #2. 
 

There's a chance I have the numbers reversed but you get the picture 

[rperez817]

18 hours ago, bzcat said:

I don't really understand why GM is setting up a 3rd line for 1500 pickup.

 

Demand for these products is outpacing supply. In August, the CFO of GM at the time said that "from the standpoint of using existing production capacity at its truck plants, GM will be running all out, and we are taking all the measures we can to increase or add to production levels on trucks as much as possible."

 

Both Fort Wayne and Silao are running 3 shifts, GM is at the point they really do need to expand production capacity with another plant.

Edited November 10, 2020 by rperez817

[7Mary3]

11 hours ago, bzcat said:

 

Compare apples to apples...

 

Ford builds super duty and fullsize SUV in the same plant. GM has them in two separate plants.

 

GM

Fort Wayne 1500

Silao 1500

Flint HD

Oshawa 1500 

Arlington SUV

Outsource medium duty from Navistar

Outsource van from AM General

 

Ford

Detroit F150

Kansas F150 (shared with Transit)

Kentucky SD and SUV

Ohio MD and cutaway/chassis (F-series and E-series)

 

The key difference here is Arlington... Ford can't match GM's volume output on fullsize SUVs. But elsewhere, Ford is doing more with less and doesn't rely on third party to build. 

 

I don't really understand why GM is setting up a 3rd line for 1500 pickup... it seems like that will create a lot of volume that will require incentives to keep inventory moving. Maybe one of the other plant will get a new product that will take up some of the volume. 

 

Correction, GM builds full size vans at Wentzville, MO., along with the Colorado/Canyon.  GM cut-away van chassis are built with Chevy medium duty trucks by Navistar in Springfield.

 

GM is currently production constrained for both LD and HD full size trucks, they can't keep up with demand.  Bringing another plant on line will help greatly.   

[fuzzymoomoo]

6 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

GM is currently production constrained for both LD and HD full size trucks, they can't keep up with demand.  Bringing another plant on line will help greatly.   

Or maybe design a more efficient production process... seems to be working well for Ford and FCA Stellantis. 

[rperez817]

42 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

Or maybe design a more efficient production process..

 

GM has already done that, they've invested $1.6 billion on process improvements as well as increased capacity for Fort Wayne and Silao since 2013. Both plants are already among the most productive in North America.

[fuzzymoomoo]

15 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

 

GM has already done that, they've invested $1.6 billion on process improvements as well as increased capacity for Fort Wayne and Silao since 2013. Both plants are already among the most productive in North America.

And yet they need to add capacity when they're barely selling more than Ford (Combined Chevy/GMC).... something doesn't add up there.