6 Shooter
08-22-06, 05:42 AM
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
http://vh10924.moc.gbahn.net/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20060822&Category=AUTO01&ArtNo=608220372&Ref=V2&Profile=1148Q=100&MaxW=500
Canadian politicians chat with GM and CAW officials Monday in Oshawa, Ontario, where the new Camaro will be assembled.
Building revived sports car retains 2,700 jobs in Oshawa while automaker is downsizing in the U.S.
Brett Clanton / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp.'s recently announced plan to revive the Chevrolet Camaro in 2008 came with a bonus Monday: The automaker said the new work will save a Canadian factory that had been slated to close.
The revamped muscle car will be built at the No. 2 Oshawa plant near Toronto, Ontario, beginning in late 2008 -- around the time the plant had been scheduled to shut down as part of GM's North American restructuring.
The move, which saves about 2,700 jobs, will steer $661 million in new investment to the factory for renovations to produce multiple models. For now, though, GM said it has plans to produce only the Camaro at the facility.
The announcement represents a win for Canada at a time when U.S. automakers are downsizing in the region and marks a change in direction for GM.
In November, GM shocked workers with a plan to shut the No. 2 Oshawa plant -- which makes sedans including the Pontiac Grand Prix and Buick LaCrosse and is one of the automaker's most productive factories -- and cut a third shift at the adjacent No. 1 Oshawa plant amid deep losses at the company.
But on Monday, GM said it will not eliminate the third shift at No. 1 this year as planned because of stronger-than-expected demand for the new Chevy Impala sedan built there. And when GM recently green-lighted the new Camaro for production, the No. 2 plant came back into play.
"Oshawa's selection to build the new Camaro is a tribute to our employees' reputation for the industry's best quality and productivity and further evidence of the exciting comeback happening at GM today," GM Canada President Arturo Elias said Monday.
After losing $10.6 billion last year, GM reported an operating profit in the second quarter in what many viewed as proof that its turnaround plan is gaining traction. Now, the automaker is hoping a raft of new vehicles will help stop a decades-long slide in its U.S. market share and fend off foreign rivals.
GM unveiled a concept version of the new Camaro to rave reviews in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and earlier this month, GM Chairman Rick Wagoner confirmed plans to produce the vehicle.
Based on the 1969 classic, the new rear-wheel-drive Camaro will be sold with automatic and manual transmission options and will come with either a V-8 or a more fuel-efficient six-cylinder engine.
GM is expected to build 100,000 Camaros a year in Oshawa, but whether consumers will embrace the new muscle car at a time when gas prices are skyrocketing remains to be seen.
"Producing them and selling them are two very different things," said Bernie Wolf, economics professor at York University in Toronto.
GM discontinued production of the Camaro in 2002 after 35 years on the market, a decision that left 1,000 workers at a Ste. Therese, Quebec, factory, near Montreal, out of work.
The Canadian Auto Workers helped lure the new model to Oshawa by agreeing to help GM reduce costs by eliminating 2,500 jobs in Oshawa through early retirements.
CAW President Buzz Hargrove said he was "absolutely thrilled" at GM's decision to build the Camaro at the facility, but called it merely a "first step" in putting Canadian auto workers back on the job.
He is hopeful the new investment and prospect of additional models landing in Oshawa bode well for the facility in coming years.
"This means they must be looking at something else as well," he said.
While Canadians celebrated GM's announcement Monday, U.S. Rep. John Dingell took it as a slight. The Dearborn congressman blamed the Bush administration and Congress for failing to adopt legislation that would address cost disadvantages faced by domestic automakers, including high health care costs and foreign currency manipulation.
"The Canadians make cars much cheaper than we can, because their government covers health care costs for all," he said in a statement. "Whenever the heads of the Big 3 have tried to talk with President Bush about this problem, they get turned away."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060822/AUTO01/608220372/1148 (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060822/AUTO01/608220372/1148)
http://vh10924.moc.gbahn.net/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20060822&Category=AUTO01&ArtNo=608220372&Ref=V2&Profile=1148Q=100&MaxW=500
Canadian politicians chat with GM and CAW officials Monday in Oshawa, Ontario, where the new Camaro will be assembled.
Building revived sports car retains 2,700 jobs in Oshawa while automaker is downsizing in the U.S.
Brett Clanton / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp.'s recently announced plan to revive the Chevrolet Camaro in 2008 came with a bonus Monday: The automaker said the new work will save a Canadian factory that had been slated to close.
The revamped muscle car will be built at the No. 2 Oshawa plant near Toronto, Ontario, beginning in late 2008 -- around the time the plant had been scheduled to shut down as part of GM's North American restructuring.
The move, which saves about 2,700 jobs, will steer $661 million in new investment to the factory for renovations to produce multiple models. For now, though, GM said it has plans to produce only the Camaro at the facility.
The announcement represents a win for Canada at a time when U.S. automakers are downsizing in the region and marks a change in direction for GM.
In November, GM shocked workers with a plan to shut the No. 2 Oshawa plant -- which makes sedans including the Pontiac Grand Prix and Buick LaCrosse and is one of the automaker's most productive factories -- and cut a third shift at the adjacent No. 1 Oshawa plant amid deep losses at the company.
But on Monday, GM said it will not eliminate the third shift at No. 1 this year as planned because of stronger-than-expected demand for the new Chevy Impala sedan built there. And when GM recently green-lighted the new Camaro for production, the No. 2 plant came back into play.
"Oshawa's selection to build the new Camaro is a tribute to our employees' reputation for the industry's best quality and productivity and further evidence of the exciting comeback happening at GM today," GM Canada President Arturo Elias said Monday.
After losing $10.6 billion last year, GM reported an operating profit in the second quarter in what many viewed as proof that its turnaround plan is gaining traction. Now, the automaker is hoping a raft of new vehicles will help stop a decades-long slide in its U.S. market share and fend off foreign rivals.
GM unveiled a concept version of the new Camaro to rave reviews in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and earlier this month, GM Chairman Rick Wagoner confirmed plans to produce the vehicle.
Based on the 1969 classic, the new rear-wheel-drive Camaro will be sold with automatic and manual transmission options and will come with either a V-8 or a more fuel-efficient six-cylinder engine.
GM is expected to build 100,000 Camaros a year in Oshawa, but whether consumers will embrace the new muscle car at a time when gas prices are skyrocketing remains to be seen.
"Producing them and selling them are two very different things," said Bernie Wolf, economics professor at York University in Toronto.
GM discontinued production of the Camaro in 2002 after 35 years on the market, a decision that left 1,000 workers at a Ste. Therese, Quebec, factory, near Montreal, out of work.
The Canadian Auto Workers helped lure the new model to Oshawa by agreeing to help GM reduce costs by eliminating 2,500 jobs in Oshawa through early retirements.
CAW President Buzz Hargrove said he was "absolutely thrilled" at GM's decision to build the Camaro at the facility, but called it merely a "first step" in putting Canadian auto workers back on the job.
He is hopeful the new investment and prospect of additional models landing in Oshawa bode well for the facility in coming years.
"This means they must be looking at something else as well," he said.
While Canadians celebrated GM's announcement Monday, U.S. Rep. John Dingell took it as a slight. The Dearborn congressman blamed the Bush administration and Congress for failing to adopt legislation that would address cost disadvantages faced by domestic automakers, including high health care costs and foreign currency manipulation.
"The Canadians make cars much cheaper than we can, because their government covers health care costs for all," he said in a statement. "Whenever the heads of the Big 3 have tried to talk with President Bush about this problem, they get turned away."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060822/AUTO01/608220372/1148 (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060822/AUTO01/608220372/1148)