GM’s plan to add shifts signals big production boost next year
General Motors Co.’s plan to add shifts at three U.S. assembly plants, which will restore 3,000 jobs, is just the start of a significant production ramp-up next year.
The Detroit automaker plans to increase its North American vehicle production next year by 45%, to around 2.8 million cars and trucks, Tim Lee, GM group vice president for manufacturing and labor relations, said today.
“It is a significant, significant production increase,” Lee told reporters.
GM expects that the U.S. new vehicle market will be 11.5 million to 12 million next year, up from where GM expects it to finish this year, at 10.5 million vehicles.
Mark LaNeve, GM vice president of U.S. sales, said GM’s inventories are at a record-low of 378,000 vehicles.
“Our inventories are much lower than we anticipated,” he said.
GM has attributed the low levels to the government’s cash-for-clunkers incentive program and to a concerted effort taken earlier this year to bring down the company’s inventory levels as GM dealt with its bankruptcy.
Stephanie Brinley, an industry analyst with AutoPacific, said the best thing about the clunkers program was that it “drained inventory across the country. That will help GM better keep demand and production in line.”
Today’s announcement is also a consequence of GM’s effort to better manage its manufacturing footprint.
About 2,400 assembly jobs will be restored and 600 added at ancillary facilities as GM adds shifts at plants in Lansing-Delta Township, Fairfax, Kan., and Ft. Wayne, Ind., Lee said.
According to GM:
• The Lansing Delta Township plant will add the Chevrolet Traverse to its assembly line. That crossover had been built in Spring Hill, Tenn., which stops production in November. The new shift begins in April.
• Fairfax will become the only factory assembling the Chevrolet Malibu sedan when the Orion factory stops production in November. Orion will be retooled for small cars. The new shift at Fairfax begins in January.
• The Ft. Wayne plant will pick up production of heavy duty versions of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups from GM’s Pontiac factory, which closes later this month. The third shift at Ft. Wayne begins in April. – Freep
- TechNews
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