I know it's just more speculation from industry analysts, but there are reports that GM may be getting ready to announce a $400million investment into Oshawa for the following cars:

Impala
Camaro
Cadillac DTS - RWD
Buick Lucerne - RWD

http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/A...nancing_060615

 

I hope this is true. Oshowa has great quality and I think would be a good choice for building the Zetas (no GTO or Pontiac model period?) but I hope that these cars hit the market a little sooner than they are saying.

 

I hope it is not true for the Camaro. I want that built in Wilmington so it can come out half a year sooner. Fall '07 would be perfect

 

September 2009? I hope that is not true.

 

GM IS looking at investing $400 million in Oshawa.

However, this is part of Project Beacon, GM's plan to invest in modernizing and expanding productivity in it's Canadian plants. The Global & Mail usually has good info, but this article is one of their less spectaular pieces.


That article has quite a few assumptions in it..... wrong assumptions:

The DTS isn't to be built on Zeta.

Camaro is scheduled to be out well before September 2009.

Lucerne isn't likely to be around for 5 years.


Towards the end of the article, they left an out for themselves by pointing out that (surprize surprize) a GM spokesman recited policy on not talking about future vehicle programs, and insinuating that GM's under pressure by Canadian goverments to invest after gaining a loan for project Beacon (GM doesn't spend this kind of money unless they ALREADY know how it fits in with the grand scheme of things and has a plan).


GM's Project Beacon was being screwed together when I did PHR's Camaro article a couple of years ago. It hit the presses March of last year. One of the items of Project Beacon was an investment in at least 1 Oshawa plant to create a flexable assembly plant for both front & rear drive platforms.

I am starting to believe that Osh #2's demise has been exaggerated, being that Impala is brand new, Lacrosse is still has a few years left, and a reskinned Grand Prix is planned. I can see all being moved into one plant to live out the rest of their natural lives while the other is rennovated to produce large zeta sedans for Chevy, and perhaps another division.

Project Beacon:
http://email.gmcanada.com/corpdb/cac...0?OpenDocument
http://www.cbc.ca/story/business/nat...gm-050302.html
http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosins...tos-106645.htm

 

Soooo....it would still seem that Wilmington is a better bet for Camaro production?

I hope so, Camaro really should be built here...and considering all the flack that Ford is getting with the leaked "Way Forward = Mexico" document, we wouldn't need such an important car to be saddled with some bad press right off the bat.

 

I'm really disappointed in the Globe and Mail, and the Canadian media. It became clear last night that they all jumped the gun.

 

How could building the car in Oshawa give it any bad press considering all the awards those plants keep getting???

GM has been using these accolades in their marketing for a while now, I doubt the average American would mind if his Camaro was built in the best quality plant in North America.

 

I'm referring to the fact that a high-profile, highly visable car so representative of America could, once again, not be built in the States.

Oshawa has built great cars, but why couldn't Wilmington? I'd like to think GM could cultivate more than just a handful of plants that are capable of building high-quality vehicles, wouldn't you?

 

So a plant that hasn't proven time and again that it deserves a new vehicle should get it?

Come on man, that makes no sense. Oshawa has the highest quality, and is the most productive of GM's plants, and for some reason you stick to the "build it American" attitude. Canadians have shown that they can build a quality vehicle, and will continue to do so. I think they have earned the right to build Camaro, even though the timing doesn't seem to be allowing for it.

Perhaps when Americans start taking pride in the products that they manufacture, then other Americans will start taking pride in owning them again. This is not a shot at Americans in general, just the ones that seem to think that they shouldn't have to compete on a global basis.

 

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/mark...ntent=b061563A

GM executive Bob Lutz says no new plans for investments at Oshawa plants

MONTREAL (CP) - General Motors (NYSE:GM) has no plans at this point for new investments at its operations in Oshawa, Ont., says Bob Lutz, vice-chairman for global product development.

Lutz said in an interview Thursday that a published report saying that GM may soon approve a $400-million investment in Oshawa is only speculative.

The report said the investment would transform GM's two Oshawa car plants into one leading-edge plant, and would be linked with a new GM platform called Zeta to launch the company back into rear-wheel-drive cars in the mid-sized vehicle market.
Lutz also reaffirmed that plant No. 2 in Oshawa is scheduled to close in 2008.
That could wipe out about 2,500 jobs

 

Will all the North American zeta cars be built at 1 plant? Or possible that camaro/gto at 1 plant and impala..etc at another...?
Because it seems anything to be built at Oshawa cant be earlier then 09 model year at best...

 

Again, I am NOT implying that Oshawa would be a poor choice of plants for Camaro to be built at from a purely quality standpoint! Oshawa has a stellar record of quality and it would be great for Camaro to be built there, with the lone noteable exception of how it looks PR-wise, fair or not.

Maybe the Camaro will end up at Oshawa and all will be fine. My point besides the PR thing is that GM should have more than a small handful of plants they can rely on to build quality vehicles.

 

I agree that GM should have more plants that build high quality vehicles. The problem is that Wilmington doesn't have the track record that Oshawa currently has. Oshawa deserves the car more than the other plants right now, but I don't think that they're going to get it, after reading Bob Lutz' comments.

 

Wilmington doesn't have the track record that Oshawa has? Hmmmm... Wilmington is the can do plant. Wilmington was given the POORLY engineered L Series and did one heck of a job working through that fiasco. And look what they''ve done with the Kappas. Give some credit where it is due.