Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[GM investing $336 million in Detroit plant to build Chevrolet Volt]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/07/gm-investing-336-million-in-detroit-plant-to-build-volt/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/07/gm-investing-336-million-in-detroit-plant-to-build-volt/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/07/gm-investing-336-million-in-detroit-plant-to-build-volt/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

2011 Chevrolet Volt - Click above for high-res image gallery

Production of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt marks an important transition for General Motors. It's the first plug-in electric drive vehicle that the automaker is building for sale to anyone that wants one. No more of the limited lease-only deals that were done with the EV1 a decade ago. To demonstrate its commitment to transforming transportation, GM decided to build the Volt on its home ground right in Detroit.

Today, GM is announcing it's spending $336 million to re-tool the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant to build the Volt. The factory, which had been building the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne, is being refurbished for the Volt. GM will start building pre-pilot Volts on its assembly iine around March of 2010 to verify the production processes. The Hamtramck plant will also build the Opel/Vauxhall Ampera beginning later in 2011 for European consumption.

The Hamtramck investment is part of $700 million being invested in Michigan facilities to produce the Volt and its components. That includes a new engine line at the Flint South engine plant and the battery pack assembly plant in Brownstown Township south of Detroit.


Gallery: Quick Spin: 2011 Chevrolet Volt


Photos Copyright (C)2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading GM investing $336 million in Detroit plant to build Chevrolet Volt

GM investing $336 million in Detroit plant to build Chevrolet Volt originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In an action that is symbolic of the changes America's auto industry is undergoing, the cushy "union desk job" is reportedly about to disappear for many. According to The Detroit Free Press, UAW bosses at post-bankrupt Chrysler and General Motors plants are informing hundreds of elected and appointed colleagues that their desk jobs are being sent back to the factory floor.

The Detroit 3 have always paid for union workers at each plant to support labor-management initiatives, conduct union elections, and handle grievances. Most of these "desk jobs" were not at the plant, and they were reportedly enved by those required to do labor-intensive work in the factories. As such, the news is welcomed by those on the assembly line. "These people had cushy jobs," said Zeigler Johnson, a worker at Chrysler's Warren Truck plant. "Some of them could use a taste of life on the floor to remind them we still make trucks around here."

All told, the UAW is eliminating about 300 positions at Chrysler, while GM expects the change to impact less than 500 workers. The new positions are expected to take effect within the next 60 days.

[Source: The Detroit Free Press | Image: Bill Pugliano/Getty]

REPORT: Workers with union desk jobs being sent back to factory floor originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 18 Jul 2009 09:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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 some of the manufacturing elsewhere, specifically China and Mexico.

GM said it will produce 1.83 million cars in the U.S. 2014 as opposed to 2 million today, and it would get one-third of its production that year from overseas. That one-third would notably be small cars, so much in play lately for every reason. The UAW suggested it would be amenable to "innovative labor agreement provisions" in order to make small car production work for GM domestically.

In that case it isn't Mexico or China that will suffer, but Canada. Our northern neighbor is expected to lose 23% of its GM export production (has anyone told CAW head Ken Lewenza yet?) while Asian importation climbs 98%.

For now, an assembly plant and a stamping plant have been spared from the initial list of U.S. closures. Another four plants have been designated "stand-by locations" that will come on line in case of a steep rebound in auto sales.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

REPORT: Two plants saved from closing under new GM/UAW agreement originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 30 May 2009 14:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A bitingly cold wind is sweeping through the Motor City this day, but the bigger chill continues to be the rapidly increasing number of idle plants from Detroit's automakers. As part of a previously-announced bid to trim first-quarter output by nearly 38%, Ford now says it will shut down ten North American factories the week of January 5. Unlike Chrysler's planned one month downtime (where they eerily won't commit to start dates), the Blue Oval has confirmed plans to re-light the fires in eight of those plants beginning the week of January 12.

That means that during the week of January 5, Ford's only active North American plants will be in Dearborn (F-150), and Kansas City (F-150, Escape/Mercury Mariner). The week of January 12 will see all facilities up save Hermosillo, Mexico (Fusion, Milan, Lincoln MKZ) and Oakville, Ontario, where the Flex, Edge, and MKX are built.

Ford is angling to cut down its quarterly output to just 430,000 vehicles, and shutdowns at staggered intervals are expected to continue throughout early next year.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req. | Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty]

Ford will shut down 10 N.A. plants in early January originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's hardly unexpected given recent gloomy sales numbers, but General Motors announced today that they will be cutting shifts at several North American plants. Unfortunately, nearly 2,000 workers will lose their jobs in the process as GM eliminates its third shift to slow production and ease the backlog of vehicles sitting on dealer lots. The affected plants are Orion, Michigan; Oshawa, Ontario; and Lordstown, Ohio (these plants manufacture the Chevrolet Malibu, Pontiac G6, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Cobalt, and Pontiac G5). The news comes on top of the previously announced idling of the Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City mid-January. That plant makes the Saturn Aura and also the Chevrolet Malibu.

[Source: Reuters]

GM cuts shifts, output at three plants originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was only in December that we mention Alfa Romeo was planning to open a factory in the United States. We followed that story with another in March when Fiat also mentioned a possibility of Iveco truck production coming to the States. It was in that same month that Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne told the Financial Times that his company was in talks with major U.S. automakers about sharing production. On Saturday, Alfa Romeo brand chief Luca de Meo told a German magazine that talks were under way with Chrysler. With Chrysler cutting domestic production, a move like this by Fiat would help both companies. The Italian carmaker, withdrawn from the U.S. market since 1995, would avoid the effects of the strong Euro on exports, and Chrysler would be able to ramp production back up on an idled plant.

[Source: Reuters]

Alfa Romeo exec in talks with Chrysler originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 May 2008 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Around 12:30PM EST today, Chrysler's Windsor assembly plant in Canada, which produces an assortment of the automaker's minivans, caught fire after a reported explosion. Eyewitness reports claim that the explosion was followed by large plumes of black smoke emanating from the northwest corner of the center. Fire crews have cordoned off part of the plant around Drouillard Road and all of the employees have been evacuated. We'll update this post with more information as it becomes available, so stay tuned. Thanks for the tip, Alan.

UPDATE 4:40 PM EST: Workers were allowed back into the plant after the fire was extinguished. Apparently a vehicle on the repair line caught fire, but workers were able to control the blaze. No injuries reported at this time. [Source: MLive]

[Source: Canada.com, Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty]

Explosion and fire at Chrysler's Windsor assembly plant originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like fears of a possible sale aren't scaring the product planners at Chrysler. Recognizing that the show must go on, the group announced a plan to build $1.78 billion worth of capacity over the next few years. According to this Automotive News piece, a new $730 million engine plant is a big part of that plan. The plant will be built in Trenton, Mich. and will concentrate on the production of the automaker's new range of fuel-efficient V-6 "Phoenix" engines. Also in the works are a new $700 million axle plant in Marysville, Mich., and a $300 million investment in the paint shop at their Sterling Heights, Mich. assembly plant.

Chrysler had actually announced many of these upgrades in February, when they pledged about $3 billion to build and revamp plants for the new engines, and the new investments don't change the fact that Chrysler is still planning to cut 13,000 jobs in their overall plan to return to profitability by 2008. New fuel-efficient engines and a renewed focus on cars is hoped to be the solution for record losses due to lower demand for the company's trucks and SUVs. Everybody loves the Hemi, but it ain't exactly a gas-sipper. As part of the new announcement, The Michigan Economic Development Corp. (a state agency) said Chrysler would be getting $11.2 million in tax concessions over the next eight years.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]

Chrysler spending $1.78bil on new Michigan plants originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Apr 2007 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seems like few automakers are immune to downsizing these days, and Nissan is no exception. Today the automaker announced it's reducing its workforce in Tennessee by 12.5%, which equates to 775 heads. The reduction come via way of voluntary buyouts that include a $45,000 cash payment and additional $500 for every year worked. All the workers come from Nissan's two assembly plants in Tennessee, one in Smyrna where the Altima and Maxima, Pathfinder and Xterra are built, and the other in Decherd, which builds the engines to supply the Smyrna plant, as well as Nissan's assembly plant in Canton, Miss. Fortunately, 303 workers were reportedly eligible for retirment anyway and happy to take the buyout.

[Source: Automotive News]

Nissan offering buyouts to 775 Tennessee workers originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A piece of automotive history will soon fade into the record books as the longest-running vehicle assembly plant in American history, the Jeep Parkway in Toledo, OH, prepares to close up shop this week.

What started as the Willys-Overland factory in 1910 helped Willys become the second-largest car company in the US through World War I, and for a stretch in the 1920s the company was led by Walter P. Chrysler. The factory helped the US flex its industrial might and built vehicles and ordinance for the military in World War II, and in 1945, the first civilian Jeep CJ rolled off the line. Presumably, no one expected the sport-utility vehicle craze that would follow nearly five decades later. Throughout the post-war years, the company went through the hands of Kaiser, AMC, and Renault, with history coming full circle when the Chrysler Corporation acquired it in 1987.

The Cherokee SUV was added in the mid-80s and helped keep the plant alive (not to mention its role in popularizing mid-size SUVs), but the replacement of that model by the Liberty - produced at the nearby and significantly more modern Toledo North factory - made the demise of the plant somewhat unavoidable.

Once occupying over 4 million square feet, somewhere in the neighborhood of 11 million vehicles have rolled out of the factory over the years. GM's Jansville, WI facility will need to run another decade to match the Toledo facility's 96 years of existence.

[Source: Toledo Blade]

Nation's oldest auto assembly plant to close doors originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Jun 2006 10:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big news from the Honda camp today. In its push to fulfill its "2010 Vision" established in 1998 Honda will be introducing a new low-cost hybrid in North America in 2009 that's expected to sell 200,000 units annually worldwide. It will be produced at the company's Suzuka plant in Japan and be a "dedicated" hybrid model, meaning that this is not the Fit Hybrid that's been floating around the web the past few weeks.

In anticipation of the upcoming diesel boom in the U.S. after the E.P.A. switches us over to Ultra Low Sulfur Fuel in October of this year, Honda will also be introducing a new four-cylinder direct-injection diesel engine in North America that's based on its offerings in Europe.

Finally, Honda will invest $400 million in a new U.S. assembly plant that will be operational by 2008, as well as put another $140 million in a new engine plant in Canada. Another $125 million is being pledged to expand the company's engine, transmission and powertrain component facilities in Georgia and Ohio, as well. All told these facilities will generate an additional 1,920 jobs in North America and boost Honda's production on the continent from 1.4 million to 1.6 million units by 2008.

For further details check out the full press release from Honda after the jump...

[Source: Honda]

Continue reading Honda: new hybrid, new diesel engine and 2 new plants in N.A.

Honda: new hybrid, new diesel engine and 2 new plants in N.A. originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 May 2006 01:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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