http://www.gminsidenews.com/forum/in...showtopic=4647

 

Though it was a shame to lose the F-body, St. Therese deserved to be closed. They had to much of an entrenched attitude problem there.

Anyway I really don't care where they build it, as long as they build it ( I mean, not in China or something, North America).

 

Not only is it demolished, it was old and too large ... but, again, we seem to get a lot of upside down stuff from you...

 

Isn't it amazing that Ste. Therese got demolished so quickly...

...and the WWII-era Wilmington, DE plant gets yet another make-over.

 

Both plants had an underutilized 200,000 unit annual capacity.

Wilmington opened in 1947, St. Therese in 1965.

St. Therese was also idle.

What's your point?

 

Wilmington has to be retooled to produce RWD units, having been converted to FWD production nearly 20 years ago. Ste. Therese would have required less investment in that regard. You could argue that the Quebec plant was a bit out of the way, but the same is true of the Delaware facility.

I'd say that the demise of Ste. Therese has a certain political element.

 

I suppose you have toured both plants, and know the ins-and-outs of what it would have taken to make the most cost effective changeover between the two, assuming that was even an option to begin with?

And, even if there were 'political motives', so what? That happens everywhere, all the time... nothing new here.

What's the problem?

 

I think that the issues of Canadian politics and the death of the F-body are little bit too connected.

 

Nope, no politics involved, at least in the way I think you mean.

The Quebec government was about to pump MORE money GM's way to keep it open. Also, the union (CAW 1163) as well as the Quebec Government along with GM worked for over a year to find an alternate use for the plant, or at least a buyer. It didn't happen.

You can say politics was involved in that GM shut down numerous plants here in the US without touching the ones in Canada, and the UAW would have probably been irked if another US plant closed down due to overcapacity while an untouched Ste. Therese F-body plant was still operating at under 50% capacity.

No matter how you go about it or how much you dig up, it still boils down to the same thing. GM did an amazing job simply keeping that plant open:

*The plant was way too big for a vehicle like the F-body. Another vehicle couldn't be added to the plant because there wasn't anywhere near enough on premise storage for the plant's capacity (I imagine one of the reasons why nobody would buy the plant).

*The only reason it lasted as long as it did was because the Quebec & Canadian government along with concessions from the local union that allowed GM to cut back the work force primarily through attrition was an offer too good to refuse.

*GM was consolidating all assembly in the Oshawa plants anyway.

There's plenty more to the story (though by no means all of it), but you'll have to wait till at least July to find out more.

 

Perhaps after the summer negotiations with the CAW?

 

I wish they would build the Camaro plant right here in Mansfield PA It would be great for our area being there is a new highway being built and there isnt any other manufacuring in my town. Ok I am dreaming. And our low taxes here would skyrocket.

 

It's a shame that Ste. Therese - a modern and reasonably sized facility - sits idle. [/B][/QUOTE]


btw, I live next to that plant and can say it lives no more! They've almost completly finished tearing it down.