Ok, so Willmington is not getting the Camaro. It has the Sosltice, Sky, and Opel GT but is VERY under capacity! Will GM be shutting down the plant or will it be putting somethinge else on the old L-series line? The plant is setup for space-frame FWD sedans right now. What could be put in there to fill capacity?

My best guess would be Epsilon II cars. We know that Malibu, G6, SAAB 9-3, Saturn Aura, and likely the next Buick Lacrosse or its replacement will all be on EPII. The next SAAB 9-5 could be on a longer EPII as well. So what plants are building EPI's now? Fairfax builds the Malibu and Malibu Maxx now. The 9-3 is built in Sweden. Where are the G6 and Aura made? What are the capacities at the current EPI plants right now and can they keep up with the demand with new models added to the platform?

Although deep down I am hoping for a compact RWD chassis in the plant.

 

Something else.....

That might fulfill your wish for small, RWD.

 

There's a surprise...more cryptic bs. Why don't I post:

"Something else.....
That might fulfill your wish for large, FWD"?



If you don't have something definitive to say, don't post. Its one thing to call bs when someone states something, but when someone just implies something, what should we call? (and no, I'm not going to click on your website to find the answer)

 

Go ahead, click on my web-site. You won't find anything there.

Truth is, there's a reason why specifics can't be said. It involves everything, from the next GTO to Camaro, to Solstice, to Wilmington.

So, in simple, if you don't want to get the hints.....just don't ask.

 

Solstice coupe?

 

but what would that add? 50k? still not enough.

 

I would agree with that. The one issue with that plant is that the hydroformed body panels are very time consuming to produce and can only be built in small quantities. However it would be doable to run a seperate line which built plastic paneled space frame cars. The equipment which built the plastic Saturn L series is still there (as far as I know). As to what else will be built there besides the Opel GT, it is as secret as the Manhattan project at the time.

 

wow, you think a solstice coupe could sell 50k cars a year?!

the little hint here sounds interesting. As always, can't wait for everything to unfold!

 

You've been around here long enough (2001!) to know that there are times things can't be said, and only implied. This is because some of us want to continue to get information, and posting something publicly on a website is a very very quick way to lose that ability.

It's up to people here on the site to decide who's credible and who isn't & Josh is very credible as far as you can be in this biz.

At the same time, knowing a bit about the approval process & GM, GM doesn't like to announce things until the Board Of Directors "signs the check" (as someone put it) to put whatever it is in production. As a result, people can get into trouble (big trouble if it's a high profile vehicle like a Camaro or small RWD sedan) for talking about it prematurely.

I don't personally know what's going into Wilmington now that Camaro's going to Oshawa. But it doesn't take too much guessing to tie reports of Pontiac trying to get a small RWD sedan based on Kappa components and Wilmington together.

Not saying it's going to happen (it's too early, and Holden's trying to get it for their factory), but it's probally safe to say it's in the running.

 

I've also been around here long enough to know that posts like this:
are infinitely more informing than posts like this:
All I am saying is that if he has nothing to state (i.e. I think, but don't know for sure, that Pontiac is trying to get a small RWD vehicle in there) then don't say anything at all. Not asking for anyone to start posting internal doucuments; speculation is what makes this board entertaining. Making people guess while trying to make oneself appear "in the know" is as dumb and juvenile as it gets.

And I somehow doubt that your ability to get info has been hampered by your comments above.

 

For all I know, someone might have actually told Josh.

Under that scenario, if done under confidence, he's be obliged to say far less than I could by just connecting the dots.

 

Yes!!!!! It's a Firebird Oh well, I can dream, can't I?

 

If Wilmington has so much unused capacity, why is GM being so stingy with the build rate of the Saturn Sky and the Pontiac Solstice? I visited my local Saturn dealer today and got a look at a Sky in person. Nice car. The one I looked at was already sold. The salesman said all cars scheduled for the rest of the year are already spoken for. They only get two or three Sky's each month. He said GM only plans to build a total of 10,000 this year. I think they could sell many more if they chose to build them.

 

Even if Kappa were designed to be built in high volume - which it wasn't - GM didn't spend on automation at Wilmington for Kappa. It's a low volume program developed at low cost.

 

I wish somebody would tell me! I've been so far out of the loop with automotive news here the last few months I feel like GM should be losing faith in ME haha

That said, it's really not hard to connect dots when you are passoniate about something here on the Internet. Look at the piece you wrote, Guy as one example. The F-Body piece in PHR was written by all research on the Internet, and it was spot on, so much so that well, most of us here know how it made some feel in the company.

Fact is, if people want to chastise me for something I post or, think, or defend. So be it. But, they should also remember that if they don't have anything nice to say...well, they should just shut up.

We'll find out in due time. I've come across many a doubters that claim I know nothing on the Internet, only to be eating crow when all is said and done.

With that said, I appreciate the comments about me....but c'mon lets face it...you're the true "messiah" around here! Haha!