A report in Automotive News outlines how General Motors has committed to building a new Buick model at their plant in Russelsheim, Germany. According to AN, the logical choice is the next-generation Buick Regal, also known as the Opel Insignia, since this is a good fit for Buick, and it allows GM to use up some of the excess capacity that is currently plaguing their European operations. But for GM's venerable Oshawa plant, this is not good news.
As TTAC and AN have both pointed out, product is leaving Oshawa much faster than it's coming in. The Camaro will move to Lansing, Michigan by 2016, while the next-generation Chevrolet Impala and the Cadillac XTS has its production split between Michigan and Oshawa. The old-generation Impala, currently built on the old "Consolidated" line, is due to end production soon. The GM Theta crossovers, which are built partially in Oshawa due to a lack of capacity at GM's Ingersoll, Ontario plant, will move there exclusively for their next generation. That leaves the Regal as GM's lone Oshawa product, and even that appears to be going away too.
All signs appear to point to the closure of the Oshawa plant high. Between high labor costs, unfavorable exchange rates and a lack of new products, it would take a miracle to save Oshawa. As of now, the main thing tying GM to the plant is the "vitality commitment" that they signed as part of their bailout agreement with the Canadian government, obligating them to keep a certain amount of vehicle production in Canada. And when that ends in 2016, it's hard to imagine that GM will keep producing cars in one of the world's most costly jurisdictions.
The post The Future Of GM's Oshawa Plant Looks Increasingly Bleak appeared first on The Truth About Cars.
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