GM to reopen Oshawa Assembly Plant

[jasonj80]

Reopening it could have something to do with VW buying Navistar as well. GM will be looking for a new home for their medium duty trucks in the near future if they continue in that market. 

[fuzzymoomoo]

27 minutes ago, jasonj80 said:

Reopening it could have something to do with VW buying Navistar as well. GM will be looking for a new home for their medium duty trucks in the near future if they continue in that market. 

See this is the most reasonable explanation, not shrouded in BS. 

[7Mary3]

Like I said, GM is production constrained.  They sell every truck they build, have very little inventory, and currently can't build any more.  They need another plant.

[7Mary3]

1 hour ago, jasonj80 said:

Reopening it could have something to do with VW buying Navistar as well. GM will be looking for a new home for their medium duty trucks in the near future if they continue in that market. 

 

Maybe, but everything I hear says the GM/Navistar JV is going well and both parties are looking to expand it.  Have not heard anything about the Traton deal putting the JV in jeopardy.  BTW- VW has begun to spin their truck unit (Traton) off.  I have heard some wild speculation that VW may use the proceeds of a Traton spin-off to buy Ford!

 

All indications are Oshawa will be building pickups, not medium duty.  But who knows for sure?   

Edited November 10, 2020 by 7Mary3

[70 Stang]

2 hours ago, jasonj80 said:

Reopening it could have something to do with VW buying Navistar as well. GM will be looking for a new home for their medium duty trucks in the near future if they continue in that market. 

I also saw where GM is going to ship full size BOF SUV's to China.

[fuzzymoomoo]

34 minutes ago, 7Mary3 said:

Like I said, GM is production constrained.  They sell every truck they build, have very little inventory, and currently can't build any more.  They need another plant.

Right, but they use more plants to do it than both Ford and FCA Stellantis. They needed 2(!) plants to keep up with Cruze production ffs. 

[jasonj80]

23 minutes ago, 7Mary3 said:

 

Maybe, but everything I hear says the GM/Navistar JV is going well and both parties are looking to expand it.  Have not heard anything about the Traton deal putting the JV in jeopardy.  BTW- VW has begun to spin their truck unit (Traton) off.  I have heard some wild speculation that VW may use the proceeds of a Traton spin-off to buy Ford!

 

All indications are Oshawa will be building pickups, not medium duty.  But who knows for sure?   

Medium trucks would end up in Mexico, Ft Wayne or Flint, the additional plant would give them room to shuffle. Oshawa is going to build LD trucks.

With Ford/VW doing commercial vehicles its likely that GM gets kicked to the curb in the next 18-24 months. Who knows Ford and VW tying up in the commercial vehicles you might finally see a full range of Ford Trucks again. Apparently for the most part VW/Ford projects are going well, there have been a few issues with patents but that was to be expected

[7Mary3]

24 minutes ago, jasonj80 said:

Medium trucks would end up in Mexico, Ft Wayne or Flint, the additional plant would give them room to shuffle. Oshawa is going to build LD trucks.

With Ford/VW doing commercial vehicles its likely that GM gets kicked to the curb in the next 18-24 months. Who knows Ford and VW tying up in the commercial vehicles you might finally see a full range of Ford Trucks again. Apparently for the most part VW/Ford projects are going well, there have been a few issues with patents but that was to be expected

 

Flint built medium duty before, I think they still have room.  Not sure I see Ford and VW partnering on medium/heavy commercial trucks in the U.S., I hear Traton will go it's own way with Navistar.  Why would they need or want another brand (Ford) for medium and heavy?  Makes no sense.  Light duty commercial is another story, particularly in Europe.  Electrification of light commercial will be expensive and Ford and VW can share expenses.   

Edited November 10, 2020 by 7Mary3

[fuzzymoomoo]

2 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

 

Flint built medium duty before, I think they still have room.  Not sure I see Ford and VW partnering on medium/heavy commercial trucks in the U.S., I hear Traton will go it's own way with Navistar.  Why would they need or want another brand (Ford) for medium and heavy?  Makes no sense.  Light duty commercial is another story, particularly in Europe.  Electrification of light commercial will be expensive and Ford and VW can share expenses.   

The one person I know who could give me a little bit on insight into the VW deal isn't saying anything about it. He moved to another department anyway so whatever he knows isn't current anyway. I get the impression that most of the VW projects will ultimately be in Europe and Asia (particularly India). That's what makes the most sense to me anyway, Ford's commercial/truck business is so strong here they can gain absolutely nothing from VW here and they certainly don't want/need to give up any of that market. 

[rperez817]

8 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

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

 

GM's full size LD trucks sell more quickly than Ford's, which results in a lower "days supply" figure for GM. In the past few months Silverado inventory has dipped as low as 26 days and Sierra inventory as low as 20 days.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by rperez817

[70 Stang]

11 hours ago, rperez817 said:

 

GM's full size LD trucks sell more quickly than Ford's, which results in a lower "days supply" figure for GM. In the past few months Silverado inventory has dipped as low as 26 days and Sierra inventory as low as 20 days.

 

 

Lower ATP's will tend to move product quicker....if that's what you're after.

[fuzzymoomoo]

16 hours ago, rperez817 said:

 

GM's full size LD trucks sell more quickly than Ford's, which results in a lower "days supply" figure for GM. In the past few months Silverado inventory has dipped as low as 26 days and Sierra inventory as low as 20 days.

 

 

 

4 hours ago, 70 Stang said:

Lower ATP's will tend to move product quicker....if that's what you're after.

That doesn't make any sense. If they sell so much faster, they should be outselling Ford by a wide margin. 

Edited November 11, 2020 by fuzzymoomoo
Typo

[rperez817]

4 hours ago, 70 Stang said:

Lower ATP's will tend to move product quicker....if that's what you're after.

 

What's an ATP?

[fuzzymoomoo]

Just now, rperez817 said:

 

What's an ATP?

Average Transaction Price 

[70 Stang]

46 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

 

That doesn't make any sense. If they sell so much faster, they could be outselling Ford by a wide margin. 

I agree completely......it's got to have something to do with the Navistar plant or something similar.

I'm very much a layman regarding auto manufacturing, but wouldn't you try to up the ATP before re-opening a plant.

[rperez817]

1 hour ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

If they sell so much faster, they should be outselling Ford by a wide margin. 

 

The reason GM isn't outselling Ford by a wide margin right now is that GM doesn't have enough capacity to produce more of their LD full size trucks, even with 3 shifts at both existing plants. That's the issue that prompted GM to re-open Oshawa Assembly. 

 

To repeat what Mary Barra said. "The fact is we simply can't build enough. And because we expect demand to remain strong, we must increase our capacity."

 

 

[FordBuyer]

2 hours ago, rperez817 said:

 

The reason GM isn't outselling Ford by a wide margin right now is that GM doesn't have enough capacity to produce more of their LD full size trucks, even with 3 shifts at both existing plants. That's the issue that prompted GM to re-open Oshawa Assembly. 

 

To repeat what Mary Barra said. "The fact is we simply can't build enough. And because we expect demand to remain strong, we must increase our capacity."

 

 

Looks like GM is really going after F-Series sales crown. To sell more you need to build more. For decades now Ford has been crowing about how it outsells Chevy in full size pickups. Maybe Ford needs to find another pickup production line somewhere. I know this sales crown is very important to Ford. One segment that Chevy doesn't dominate.

[rperez817]

36 minutes ago, FordBuyer said:

For decades now Ford has been crowing about how it outsells Chevy in full size pickups. Maybe Ford needs to find another pickup production line somewhere. I know this sales crown is very important to Ford. One segment that Chevy doesn't dominate.

 

Ford has done a masterful job marketing Super Duty versions of F-Series, it easily leads the industry in HD full size pickup truck sales. That's what gives F-Series the sales crown for pickup trucks overall year after year.

 

GM's strengths are LD full size pickups and sales to retail consumers. Chevrolet Silverado sales are closer to F-Series sales if you only consider the LD versions, and only retail sales (no fleet). If you combine Silverado and Sierra LD retail sales, that number consistently exceeds F-150 retail sales.

[mackinaw]

1 hour ago, FordBuyer said:

Looks like GM is really going after F-Series sales crown. To sell more you need to build more. For decades now Ford has been crowing about how it outsells Chevy in full size pickups. Maybe Ford needs to find another pickup production line somewhere. I know this sales crown is very important to Ford. One segment that Chevy doesn't dominate.

 

GM is going after Tesla.  Didn't you hear that the Cybertruck has over 700,000 reservations?

[rperez817]

20 minutes ago, mackinaw said:

GM is going after Tesla. 

 

It's going after Ford, FCA, Toyota, Nissan, Rivian, Nikola, Lordstown Motors, and Bollinger too.

[FordBuyer]

4 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

 

It's going after Ford, FCA, Toyota, Nissan, Rivian, Nikola, Lordstown Motors, and Bollinger too.

They sure aren't going to do it selling 1,000 hp Hummers. 

 

Now to answer my own conjecture, Ford is building a new pickup plant that makes BEV electric pickups. The question to ask is how many? I'm sure not hundreds of thousands with 300 workers.

[rperez817]

28 minutes ago, FordBuyer said:

They sure aren't going to do it selling 1,000 hp Hummers. 

 

Very true FordBuyer sir. In the very short term (next 2 to 3 years) they'll remain competitive by producing as many gasoline and diesel powered pickup trucks as they can. 

 

Hummer EV is a promising super truck, but GM's long term goal is to have a 100% electric vehicle lineup. So they'll have to transition their other pickup trucks to BEV quickly and smoothly.

[fuzzymoomoo]

44 minutes ago, FordBuyer said:

They sure aren't going to do it selling 1,000 hp Hummers. 

 

Now to answer my own conjecture, Ford is building a new pickup plant that makes BEV electric pickups. The question to ask is how many? I'm sure not hundreds of thousands with 300 workers.

How I think that's is going to work is the BEV chassis and unique parts will be assembled there then conveyored over to the DTP final assembly building where it will meet up with the finished and pained body to go through final assembly. I say that as pure speculation based on what I know about the build process.