Who'd a thunk it? And they didn't even mention Maxx in here.



GM to add 200 employees to Fairfax plant on Chevrolet Malibu demand

Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - General Motors Corp. will add 200 more production employees and start operating the assembly line on Saturdays at its Fairfax plant because of demand for the Chevrolet Malibu.

The auto company is hiring new employees that would boost the hourly work force at Fairfax to nearly 3,000, said Sharon Baldwin, a spokeswoman for the plant.

GM has been operating its two daily shifts on a nine-hour overtime schedule since December.

This Saturday's production will start two full shifts that will work on several Saturdays through the end of the year. The plant's line speed also has been increased since the new version of the Malibu was launched last fall.

"Right now, the demand for the Malibu is very strong," Baldwin said. "Dealers are asking for every car we can build, which is a fantastic problem to have."

Saturday shifts have been rare for the plant. Baldwin said there were some Saturday shifts three years ago, but they were not scheduled regularly.

Most of the additional employees will transfer from Delphi Corp.'s Olathe plant, said Dave Peterson, of United Auto Workers Local 31. However, some of the workers will be new hires.

Peterson said other furloughed workers are transferring from Lansing, Mich. Local 31 officials last year said the Fairfax plant could add a third shift because of the increased Malibu production, but GM has not made that move.

"We can meet the demand right now with overtime and Saturday production," Baldwin said. "Certainly, this is a short-term strategy, but market demand in the future will determine whether we go to a third shift."

 

I've been seeing more of them on the road, but not tons of them, to be honest.

I always like the rear of the car... the sides and front are growing on me for what the car is...

I'd like to see GM spread the remote start option to other vehicle lines.

 

I'm starting to see them pretty often on the street. Haven't seen a Maxx outside of an autoshow yet though.

 

I saw a Maxx the other day. I thought it was a small SUV from behind or something. Looked pretty nice. I've seen a bunch of the sedans on the road.

Chris

 

I haven't seen too many of them out this way.

 

Can anyone get sales #'s for the Malibu?

 

seen a few here in cinci
nothing compared to the impala you see every block though

 

There are lots of them here in Kansas City, but I guess that's no surprise. Still not as many as Impalas though. I just saw the first Maxx I've seen on the road the other day. I've seen bunches on carriers though.

 

I just saw my first today going to work. I dont see many new ones (base model included) but they are starting to show up more.

 

I'm somewhat surprised by that article. Sales for Malibu in Jan 2004 were 7,157 versus sales for the old model in Jan 2003 11,234. Even Classic sold more than Malibu in Jan 2004 with 7,290 units.

Maybe this is a case of lowered expectations?

 

so there selling 3 Malibu's

the classic..is it called a malibu classic?

the Malibu
and the Malibu MAXX

and then a MAXX SS?? wow..GM is throwing the Malibu in the ring of contenders

 

I have been seeing them alot more here in Orlando. I saw two Maxx's just last week. I like the Maxx better than the sedan.

 

That's pretty pathetic that the Classic is selling more than the '04...but that shows you the power of fleet sales...

Meanwhile, something everyone needs to understand is that when a new model debuts, EVERY dealer is trying to get as many as possible. No one wants to sell short. When the Vibe came out, dealers were fighting unbelievably hard with each other for swaps to get AWD Vibes in stock. GM figured a 33% penetration on AWD Vibes. I ask you, does that make sense in the northeast????

We fought hard for any Vibe in general, actually. But I ask you, is the Vibe a hot seller??? Hardly...I doubt there is a high customer demand for Malibus just yet, as there aren't many on the road, and our biggest area Chevy dealer only had 3 on the lot, and 3 that just came off the truck. But dealers will place as many orders as they can get, despite the fact they may not have the customers to support the stock for some time.

 

I think the malibu is a pretty sharp car, the thing it lacks is decent sized wheels. I saw my first Maxx 2 weeks ago and it looked pretty good too.

So are the extra workers for the new Malibu or for the whole line including the "classic"?

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the new Malibu isn't being sold to fleet buyers and the classic is only being sold to fleets.

So this Jan Chevy sold 14,447 malibu's(04 Malibu + Classic) vs. 11,234 last year.

If last Jan '03 7000 cars went to fleets, then that means about 4,000 when to regular customers. In that case the new Malibu is selling almost 75% more than last year.