Plants


Hummer grinds gears: production of 2010 H3 and H3T resumes

Although the Hummer sale isn't officially official – which is to say, the Chinese authorities haven't told Tengzhong "Proceed!" – it is official enough that GM has restarted production of the 2010 H3 and H3T at its Shreveport, LA plant. General Motors didn't want to be stuck with dead models, so it closed the Hummer spigot while its side of the deal with Tengzhong was finalized. By the beginning of this month, though, the bottom of the inventory barrel was starting to peek through, with just 1,183 units on hand. Even though ... Read more →

REPORT: Mini 'Countryman' crossover skipping Detroit for Geneva? Jonathon Ramsey

Everyone is getting ready for the Mini Countryman -- including, perhaps, the WRC -- but everyone is going to have to wait, according to a report by those Mini-mad folks at Motoring File. The ...

REPORT: Labor unrest in India to cause Ford to idle key NA crossover plant Jonathon Ramsey

Rico Auto Industries in India makes transmission parts for Ford's Flex and Edge, along with its upscale Lincoln MKT and MKX twins. Unfortunately for the Blue Oval, Automotive News is reporting ...

Shreveport, LA mayor lobbies D.C. to close the HUMMER deal, already Jonathon Ramsey

Cedric Glover, the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, went to Washington, D.C. to plead his case for the sale of Hummer to Tengzhong. The only thing is, we're not sure why he went. To be more ...

REPORT: Toyota adding 850 jobs in San Antonio truck factory Jonathon Ramsey

Toyota's arrangements for its San Antonio plant are coming together after the closure of NUMMI and the announced relocation of Tacoma pickup production. The company will be adding 850 permanent ...

Ford Fiesta U.S.-spec gets caught in Mexican factory 2 months ago on Autoblog

What is reported to be the coming U.S.-spec Ford Fiesta has been photographed during assembly in Mexico, and the minor changes we can glean so far center around the grille. Compared to its European counterpart, the American version gets a much chunkier front end which has pushed the leading edge ...

REPORT: Production lines halted at MG's Longbridge plant. This is not a repeat from 2005. 2 months ago on Autoblog

It is a travesty that the initials "MG" are coming to be a convenient epithet for the term "woe." The British sportscar maker has had an exceedingly trying history recently, and things haven't got any better with word that its owner, MG Motor UK Ltd. (which is really Nanjing Automobile ...

REPORT: GM halting Duramax production for 10 weeks 2 months ago on Autoblog

The revamped 6.6-liter Duramax V8 engine will go into production in April 2010 and the current Duramax, which doesn't meet emissions requirements that go into effect January 1, 2010, will cease production the day before the new year begins. In the interim, GM will be retooling the factory and ...

REPORT: Fiat to close Bertone purchase this week 2 months ago on Autoblog

On Thursday, Fiat is expected to put its John Hancock on a preliminary agreement to close its purchase of Carrozzeria Bertone, the coachbuilding arm of the Bertone company. In August Fiat won the right to acquire the builder, and it will throw €150 million at its operations over the next ...

Mercedes-Benz pondering C-Class production in Alabama? 2 months ago on Autoblog

The C-Class is Mercedes-Benz's biggest seller Stateside, and a report in a Stuttgart newspaper indicates the company could be looking to stabilize the revenue from its bread-and-butter sedan. The C-Class is currently produced in Sindelfingen, Germany, and that makes it prey to currency swings on ...

FYI: UAW releases list of 2010 cars and trucks made in union shops 2 months ago on Autoblog

There's "Buy American!" and then there's "Buy Union!" If you're among the most serious about keeping your red-white-and-blue money in the U.S. of A North America and organized labor is close to your ticker, then you'll want to check out this list put together by the United Auto Workers. It lists ...

BMW plant in Spartanburg, SC produces 1.5 millionth vehicle 3 months ago on Autoblog

BMW invaded the South in 1993, and it's first U.S.-made product was popped out in September a year later. Fifteen years after that there have been five factory expansions, 5,000 jobs created, a methane gas pipeline installed, a center for automotive research created, a golf tournament started, ...

REPORT: Toyota moving Tacoma production to San Antonio 3 months ago on Autoblog

Now that Toyota has decided the fate of the NUMMI plant, the company has to decide where to move production of the Tacoma and Corolla models built there. The Corolla hasn't been spoken for yet, but Toyota is confirming that its Tacoma line is moving to the San Antonio factory that currently makes ...

After divorcing Daimler, going steady with Fiat and cutting off Nissan, Chrysler looking for Chinese partner? 3 months ago on Autoblog

Over the past couple of years, Chrysler has been in discussion with seemingly every carmaker in the world about some sort of tie-up to achieve some particular end. Before it was battling for its very survival, it was in serious talks with Chinese automaker Chery about building a car or two, ...

Ford boosts production (slightly) of F-150, Escape 3 months ago on Autoblog

Two of Ford's vehicles are moving well enough that the automaker is adding production to its plants in Missouri and Michigan. Ford says its F-150 and Ford Escape are looking to earn their highest sales of the year in August, with the F-Series truck line looking good for its first year-on-year ...

Toyota cutting production capacity by up to 1 million vehicles? 3 months ago on Autoblog

Japan's Nikkei has reported that Toyota is will cut production by 10% in its next fiscal year, from ten million to nine million vehicles. To do that, Japan's largest automaker is said to be shutting down an entire production line in its home country for a year-and-a-half starting next spring. There ...

REPORT: Opel labor union goes on the offensive, GM negotiator meets with German feds 3 months ago on Autoblog

The battle for Opel has added another front: Opel labor unions at two of the company's German factories retracted an agreement made last year to forgo vacation bonuses. The move demands that General Motors pay the laborers €70 million ($100.2M U.S.) by next week, the amount that they agreed to ...

Land Rover increases production of new Discovery and Range Rover Sport 4 months ago on Autoblog

It's a little difficult to keep track of what's happening at Tata and JLR these days. While the XF sales continue apace and the XJ is promising, the JLR division lost £673.4 million pounds ($1.11B U.S.) last year, and parent company Tata was $520 million in the red at the end of its 2008 ...

REPORT: GM gets out from under its polluted sites scot-free 4 months ago on Autoblog

Among those clamoring for attention and payouts from Motors Liquidation Co., the company that assumed General Motors' unwanted assets after its Chapter 11 filing, are the environmental and economic redevelopment departments of state governments. According to reports, when GM exited bankruptcy, ...

REPORT: Opel, waiting on GM and the German government, heading toward bankruptcy 4 months ago on Autoblog

There are five noteworthy parties involved in the negotiations over Opel's fate: GM, the German government, the Opel trust, states with Opel manufacturing plants, and the Opel labor union. The Opel trust is the body created to run Opel after GM's bankruptcy, and consists of five members: a ...

Korean police to storm Ssangyong factory occupied by fired workers? 5 months ago on Autoblog

Earlier this year, when Ssangyong was allowed to continue as a going concern, the company had to let go of around 900 workers. Those workers (above) then effectively said "all your factory are belong to us," and staged a sit-in at the South Korean production facility that subsequently turned ...

REPORT: Ford Transit Connect to be built Stateside in 2012 5 months ago on Autoblog

A welcome splash of news for the UAW and the U.S. economy: Ford will commence production of the Transit Connect at a U.S. assembly plant by mid-year 2012. Currently built in Turkey on a version of the Euro Focus platform, the next generation Transit will also migrate to the FWD compact platform ...

REPORT: Opel to cut prices 40% in order to save jobs? 6 months ago on Autoblog

Sometimes deals get made, and then the dealmakers have to employ some pretty creative tactics to get the terms to work. Magna's deal for Opel included taking €1.5 billion in short term loans from the German government, the string attached being that Magna had to guarantee German jobs. Saving ...

Chevrolet announces 1.5 millionth Corvette produced, confirms Grand Sport pricing 6 months ago on Autoblog

The very first Chevrolet Corvette built way back in 1953 was Polo White with a red interior and a black top. It was practically made by hand, cost $3,498 plus tax and shipping, and the only options were an AM radio and a heater. Fifty six years later, the 1.5 millionth Corvette is white with a ...

REPORT: Toyota sees U.S. turnaround in sight, plans to boost production 6 months ago on Autoblog

Auto sales in 2009 have been a real stinker, but companies are starting to feel a bit more bullish about the immediate future of the industry. Earlier this week, Ford announced that it was bumping Q3 production by 10%, and now Toyota is getting more aggressive still by adding 65,000 units to its Q2 ...

REPORT: Two plants saved from closing under new GM/UAW agreement 6 months ago on Autoblog

According to the Detroit Free Press, the 14 plants that General Motors is expected to announce for closure on Monday was going to be 16 plants until the UAW got its way on Capitol Hill. The union charged GM with closing factories, but instead of a commensurate reduction in production, GM was moving ...

Honda UK workers vote in favor of 3% pay cut to save jobs 7 months ago on Autoblog

The numbers for the UK car industry in April point to a 50% drop in production, and factories that aren't shut down completely are being run at glacial paces. After closing its Swindon, England plant for four months, the choice Honda gave workers there fit the template of the times: take a pay cut ...

McLaren intends to build new production facility to rival Maranello 7 months ago on Autoblog

First came Paragon, the terrifically high-tech McLaren Technology Center that is the corporate and production HQ for Ron Dennis' various company interests. Now, Dennis is planning a McLaren Production Center (MPC) that will engineer and build "McLaren Automotive's range of innovative ...

Rolls-Royce to double workforce ahead of Ghost production 7 months ago on Autoblog

The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost will not only mean more sales for the company, it will mean more workers. Rolls is adding 300 production workers to the payroll, bringing its Sussex workforce to 900. The majority of new positions will be in the wood, leather and paint shops, but there will be ...

REPORT: Chrysler affidavits reveal crippling problems that hurt chances for success post-bankruptcy 7 months ago on Autoblog

History could eventually reveal that Chrysler declaring bankruptcy may have just been the easy part. According to CNN, affidavits taken from Chrysler engineers and executives do a pretty good job of showing that things will get really tough when it's time for the automaker to start making cars ...

Rumormill: Could the Fiat-Chrysler deal yield a North American Ford Ka? 7 months ago on Autoblog

It's a long shot, but according to The Detroit Free Press, Chrysler's deal with Fiat could result in Ford offering the cutesy Ka for sale in North America. As you may recall, Ford co-developed the Ka's platform with Fiat (it shares its chassis with the 500), and the Italian automaker builds ...

Opel reportedly mulling reviving Wartburg as low-cost brand 7 months ago on Autoblog

Despite an uncertain future, Ward's Auto is reporting that Opel is looking at the possibility of starting a new low-cost line under the revived moniker "Wartburg." Made by East German company VEB AEW until 1991, in their most recent guise, Wartburgs were cheap transportation for the Communist set, ...

More cuts across the board: General Motors to slash dealers, plants and employees 7 months ago on Autoblog

General Motors' spate of announcements this morning was bad news for enthusiasts (e.g. the shuttering of Pontiac) and even worse for GM's debt-for-equity swap (without a 90% take-rate the automaker is bound for CH 11). But for dealerships and workers, GM's re-revised restructuring plan is going to ...

Industry analyst says Australian car industry is doomed 8 months ago on Autoblog

Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of Australia's Dog & Lemon Guide, says there's no way around a central fact of Australian automobile production: "Australia's car factories are losing money on every vehicle they make." Because of that, he believes that there is no future for the domestic car ...

Toyota exec says automaker ready for GM bankruptcy 8 months ago on Autoblog

The world's largest automakers are intertwined in a myriad of ways and they need to watch their competitors in both good times and bad. When talk of a GM bankruptcy was first floated, the discussion of the effects naturally led to GM's suppliers. That discussion then led to what the effects would ...

Coachbuilder Karmann files for insolvency 8 months ago on Autoblog

The economy has caught up with Karmann, the independent German builder whose name was most famously applied to Volkswagen's '50s roadster, forcing it to file for insolvency. Most recently the company's 3,470 workers were assembling Audi A4 and Mercedes CLK convertibles. Over its 108-year history ...

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Autoblog Podcast #157: Mike Levine trucks along with us.

Mike Levine from PickupTrucks.com joins Chris, Sam, and Dan this week and gets a chance to talk about cars, too! 

 
 

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