You might be interested in this from a guy working in GM Oshawa.

We have known for a while that the new Camaro will be built in Lansing. The current build is on the Epsilon Platform and will be going to the Zeta Platform I think.....or vise-versa. Not sure the difference but quite sure they want a successful car back in the States!
We heard originally that we will be building only the "overflow" for the new Impala... perhaps 30%. Now I am hearing we will be the lead builder producing at least 70% for at least the first year. The worst thing I see about it is that we are not stamping any of the metal for it??? Every model we launch and build, we stamp most of the body and closure panels. None for this car. What does that say??? Two of the press lines have been sold and are already gone from the plant. I don't see a great future for this plant unless new model announcement early next year.
I don't believe we have any product after contract 2016. NOTHING.
I have heard a few different supervisors suggest this plant will close 15-16 or 2017 at the latest. I hope they are wrong but nothing would surprise me now. Just wait and see is all I can do. Sad day for Oshawa if that's the future. Hope not.
I spoke to and engineer recently and he told me he will be heading back to Ingersoll where the Equinox/Terrain are built. They are expanding there and have been awarded the next generation of the same two vehicles. Don't know the details of the expansion but seems positive.

 

I've always thought cars built up north were screwed together just a little bit better than most down here. Even back in the Jeep days there was a noticeable difference in many areas. Might be some serious money/cost issues to move the whole production line at this point.

 

I thought I read somewhere that Chevrolet SS production is supposed to be moving to Oshawa for MY 2015 along with some other yet to be named vehicles on Zeta II.

 

For the record, the 5th gen is on Zeta, and the 6th gen will be on Alpha. The ATS (an Alpha car) is already built in Lansing, and it makes sense to build all Alpha cars in one place, hence the move. FWIW, I have friends that work at the Lansing plant and they're really excited to be building the next Camaro.

Re: Canadian cars being "screwed together tighter," I haven't heard any issues with build quality on the ATS or any of the Theta SUVs (Enclave, Acadia, etc) which are built in Lansing.

The 2014+ Impala is on Epsilon II, same as the XTS. I assume Oshawa will continue to build a variety of Epsilon cars for the foreseeable future.

 

The Oshawa truck plant used to win JD Powers awards all the time for quality, so I think that is where the perception of increased quality comes from. The cars up there were winning awards too.

My opinion is that GM is responding to some hard bargaining from the CAW in the last contract. When the contract is up, they could possibly be in a position to close Oshawa. So the CAW might have to agree to contract structures similar to the UAW if they want to keep the plant open. Ask people from Pontiac East Truck what happens when you try to get a little bigger piece of the pie than everyone else. GM has a long memory for that kind of stuff.

-Geoff

 

Rumor has it that Zeta II is going to Oshawa in 2015. That includes the Chevrolet SS, a new Caprice PPV, and possibly a Buick sedan.

 

Oshawa should be fine. People there seem to be wringing their hands over losing Camaro - ok yes, it's a nice, highly visible product but you're talking at most 90k-100k units a year. Chances are they're going to be increasing volume when Camaro is replaced there.