General Motors has issued a statement confirming rumored plans to assemble an upcoming small car – likely based on the Chevrolet Spark – at its Orion Township, Michigan, assembly plant. GM says that, between the assembly plant and a nearby stamping plant, it will prevent 1,400 jobs from being cut.
“Small cars represent one of the fastest-growing segments in both the U.S. and around the world,” said Troy Clarke, president of GM North America in a prepared statement. “ GM will be the only automaker, foreign or domestic, to build small cars in the U.S . , and we believe Orion Assembly and Pontiac Stamping are well suited to deliver a high-quality, fuel-efficient car that competes with anything in the marketplace.”
GM anticipates the plant to operate in a two-shift setup to produce about 160,000 small cars annually. The assembly plant currently produces the lame-duck Pontiac G6 and the Chevrolet Malibu. The Malibu will continue to be built at the automaker’s Fairfax, Kansas, assembly plant, where the discontinuation of the Saturn Aura will make up for the lost Malibu-building capacity in Michigan.
The automaker says that the Janesville, Wisconsin, and Spring Hill, Tennesse, plants that had been considered for the small car will remain on standby status. Janesville has not been operational since May and Spring Hill will go idle in November.
06/27, 6:55 PM
posted by:
zoomzoomer
I thought GM was planning to sell Spring Hill to Penske/Saturn? Oh wait, they don’t even BUILD Saturns there anymore. And what is this about discontinuation of the Aura? I thought Penske would be purchasing them for the Saturn dealerships? I am confused.
06/27, 8:46 PM
posted by:
1c3d0g
Good. GM needs its small cars to drive sales and shut up critics who do nothing but bitch about anything GM does.
06/29, 7:50 PM
posted by:
carstuff
Penske is not buying any manufacturing facilities from GM. They are only buying the dealership franchise. GM will supply Saturns already in production temporarily (~ 1-2 years). That is about the time until the Orion plant changes over. After that Penske will bring cars in from China, Mongolia or where ever else he can find the cheapest labor.