- General Motors is ramping up production to meet demand for the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain.
- The automaker will be adding a third shift to its plant in Oshawa, Ontario.
- GM did not give volume predictions for the Equinox and Terrain in the wake of production changes.
OSHAWA, Ontario — General Motors is responding to complaints from consumers who say they can't get their hands on the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain. The automaker will be adding a third shift to its plant in Oshawa, Ontario.
The complaints have been a common theme in Web chats with GM executives on the GM FastLane blog. Mark Reuss, president of GM North America, said the plan "allows us to meet customer demand for hot products."
GM did not give volume predictions for the Equinox and Terrain in the wake of production changes.
The Equinox and GMC Terrain are built in Ingersoll, Ontario, at GM's CAMI Automotive plant. The third shift at Oshawa will come on line in October, returning about 600 workers to the plant. Moving some Equinox assembly to Oshawa will allow CAMI to build more Terrains, GM said.
"Under the plan, CAMI's body shop capacity will be expanded to produce extra Chevrolet Equinox units beyond the plant's existing capacity to paint and assemble them," GM said in a statement. "These Equinox body assemblies will then be shipped to the Oshawa plant for paint and final assembly. The plan also enables CAMI to increase GMC Terrain volumes."
Inside Line says: Good news for consumers who want to open up their wallets for the Equinox and Terrain. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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benrey23 says:
07:44 PM, 10/07/2011
Everyone needs to understand that Honda, Toyota, Hyundai all have lower total cost of labor. I was at the GM Truck plant in Indiana. They no longer make no GM vehicles park in a designated spot in the back. Only foriegn vehicles have to park in the back. You will see Ford's, Chrysler's in the front and all over the lot parked. Unless the person driving the foreign vehicle can prove it was built with Union hands it goes to the back. In fact a Ford truck might be seen parked in normal area's while a Chevy Avalanche is parked in the back since it is built in Mexico free of Union's. Who ever suggests that GM builds in Canada because of healthcare is flat out wrong.
tbone85 says:
03:21 PM, 03/29/2010
"This is about the most arrogant and racist comment I've heard on this website. "
Dude, then you don't get out much. If you want to pretend that customer support has improved by offshoring, good luck living in your lonely fantasy world. Dell and others have begun moving a number of these jobs back because of the communications problems created by accents.
"Probably because most of this country with all its resources lacks even a basic Bachelors degree."
Are you freaking kidding me? And you're calling ME a racist? Stop drinking the globalization as God kool aide. The percentage of people in the U.S. with a bachelor's degrees is higher than every country except Norway, Brittain, and the Netherlands. Because India has nearly 4 times our population and a strong focus on the hard sciences they do have a large number of engineering and science students.
"America's education system is a joke, but not only that, it seems like the youth of this country could care less about becoming educated. I'm sure you're one of the typical fat, white, under-educated American that the rest of the world loves to mock. It's not fun being generalized is it?"
Perhaps if your ignorant statement had a single element of truth to it I'd actually feel mocked. I had that "globalization/free trade religion" jammed down my throat as an undergrad by the same people who told us that our entire econonmic model was based on "perfect competition"--of which there is not a single example of in the real world.
You think that shipping jobs overseas that were formerly performed by Americans is not only a great idea, but the only idea possible. Our largest trading partners do not agree with you as we are in both a trade and employment deficit with those partners. If they believed it was such a great idea for their econonmies then China, for example, would be offshoring business opportunities to our shores. Finally, if you are so offended by American youth and our education system, why don't you try doing something to help instead of typing mindless insults?
fbo says:
04:22 AM, 03/29/2010
STOP BUYING GOVERNMENT MOTORS.
thedream21479 says:
05:36 PM, 03/28/2010
" That pure globalization thing really worked out well when trying to get customer support from a thickly accented foreigner, doesn't it? "
This is about the most arrogant and racist comment I've heard on this website.
Addressing your other comments:
"Yeah, it's worked great for our employment base. It's called sending our dollars over seas to the benefit of foreign workers and a few wealthy individuals--and of course listening to apologists ramble on about free trade like it's a religion practiced reverently by all our trading partners. "
Do you realize how many people Microsoft actually brings over here to the USA from India to work for them? I live 10 minutes from Microsofts headquarters in Redmond, WA. It seems like 60% of the programmers are from India/Pakistan, the other 30% from China/Japan, and about 10% of them are actually Americans. Why is one of the largest American technology company in the world hiring more people from overseas and bringing them to the USA? Probably because most of this country with all its resources lacks even a basic Bachelors degree.
America's education system is a joke, but not only that, it seems like the youth of this country could care less about becoming educated.
I'm sure you're one of the typical fat, white, under-educated American that the rest of the world loves to mock.
It's not fun being generalized is it?
tbone85 says:
04:38 PM, 03/28/2010
"It's called Globalization. Get over it. "
Yeah, it's worked great for our employment base. It's called sending our dollars over seas to the benefit of foreign workers and a few wealthy individuals--and of course listening to apologists ramble on about free trade like it's a religion practiced reverently by all our trading partners. That pure globalization thing really worked out well when trying to get customer support from a thickly accented foreigner, doesn't it? When we stop taking care of our own first, then we are worse than the infidel. I'm already over the "globalization religion." We need to advocate intellegient trade.
thedream21479 says:
11:32 PM, 03/27/2010
Jesus people, are you really that naive to think that just because a company is from a particular country that the products will be made in that country? I mean come ON it's the 21st century for crying out loud.
It's called Globalization. Get over it.
charlesb says:
10:52 PM, 03/27/2010
They could build these in Smalltown, U.S. of A. and I wouldn't buy them. The federal government owns the company. I'm actually thinking of buying something built in Marysville, Ohio real soon.
fefan says:
09:49 PM, 03/27/2010
To samster231:
Oh, I do see the whole picture. For all intents and purposes, GM is a Canadian company now. They might was well drop the fascade, put their tales between their legs, and slither on up to Ontario, where they can set up their new corporate offices. Americans stood by GM, but GM has abandoned Americans. With all of their new products (Camaro, Equinox, Terrain, LaCrosse, Cadillac SRX) and the bulk of their future/planned products (Cadillac ATS, Buick Regal, next Malibu, next Camaro, etc.) being built in Canada...we really can no longer consider GM to be a U.S. corporation, and there will be zero benefit to American communities in purchasing a GM product. Of course, that only matters to those of us that recognize the tragedy of "outsourcing" all of your manufacturing. Really samster, it's good to tell the whole truth when examining "the whole picture".
samster231 says:
07:01 PM, 03/27/2010
fefan I will say again dude, that Canadians and Ontarians in particular also have a substantial financial stake in GM (see my post on March 26th).
Sufficed to say you and your wife are no more "breaking your @asses on a daily basis to support Canadian workers and their families" than I am, an Ontario tax payer who is not employed by GM or the auto industry.
I don't want to turn this into a larger conversation about free trading and trade imbalances, and you are free to choose whatever vehicle you wish, but please do take the time to see the whole picture.
thedream21479 says:
06:18 PM, 03/27/2010
Who CARES where a vehicle is built- as long as it's built well and is a good vehicle. I don't care if GM builds cars on Mars, as long as they keep improving the product quality and build cars like the Buick Regal GS and the Corvette ZR1.