Autoblog

In a deal designed to assuage the tensions between General Motors and the Canadian Auto Workers union, GM's new car plant in Oshawa, Ontario will gain two additional models to build. The old truck plant in the same city, though, will still close sometime in 2009. Until then, the truck plant will continue to assemble hybrid versions of GM's full-size pickup trucks. The new Oshawa plant will begin building GM's long-anticipated Camaro revival and will also get some Chevrolet Impala production and an unnamed Buick model at some point in the future.

In addition to the extra work at the brand new Oshawa plant, displaced workers with at least 26 years of GM employment will get a percentage of their yearly salary, even after the plant has closed, until they have reached the necessary 30-year mark for retirement. Other qualifying ex-employees will get buyout packages of some sort. Thanks for the tip, Ryan!

[Source: CBC News]

Despite rising tensions (and a lawsuit) between General Motors and the Canadian Auto Workers union, the automaker may be interested in adding a new car line at its soon-to-closed truck plant in Oshawa, Ontario. Though that plant was originally scheduled to stay open a few more years, slumping sales of full-size trucks built there have forced GM to announce its early closure along with three other pickup and SUV plants. Since that announcement, union workers have barricaded GM Canada's headquarters for the last eight days in protest, which we'd imagine might make it difficult for GM management to negotiate with union officials... but what do we know?

According to The Detroit News, however, GM has been talking with Ontario's Economic Development and Trade Minister, Sandra Pupatello, who says that the government is very interested in securing the new vehicle line as quickly as possible. Even if a decision is made in short order, it is likely the plant's 2,600 workers would be out of work for up to two years after the closes and before its ready again with new tooling for a passenger car line.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Hold on to your britches folks. General Motors dealings with the Canadian Auto Workers union just took another turn for the worse. GM, like every other full-line automaker selling vehicles in the United States, has been unable to move as many pickup trucks as it had hoped since the price of gas has spiked. In response to the shifting tide of vehicle sales and to slow the huge financial hemorrhaging, GM announced about eight days ago that it would be closing four plants that build trucks and SUVs, including one in Oshawa, Ontario. Unfortunately, the General had recently promised to keep that particular plant open for a few more years, so the announcement more than irked the Union officials from up north.

Here's where things get real ugly. In retaliation, the CAW has blockaded the entrance to the GM headquarters in Canada for the last eight days. As you might imagine, GM has a slight problem with this and has taken the matter to court, where documents reveal that the automaker wants C$250,000 from the local union and five of its members for a total of $1.5 million in damages. We're not sure if this impending lawsuit will impact the Union's plans for a rally this Thursday in the parking lot of the Oshawa headquarters, but it's probably safe to say that this situation won't have a happy ending.

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

The dust hasn't settled yet on General Motors' announcement that it will be closing an additional four plants, but the Canadian Auto Workers union is already foaming at the mouth. The CAW organized 30 trucks to block GM Canada's headquarters in response to the company's decision to close its Oshawa truck plant. The Oshawa plant produces the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups, production of which the General has reduced sharply in response to slow sales. The Canadian union says it won't move the trucks, which is blocking all vehicular traffic, until it meets with GM officials. While the CAW is letting pedestrians on foot through the blockade, we wouldn't be surprised if bipedal passage comes accompanied by a few colorful words that would make a sailor blush.

While the CAW would never want to lose a plant under any circumstances, the rank and file are particularly angry this time because the news came only two weeks after GM promised to keep the plant open through most of 2009. GM also promised that the plant would build its next generation light-duty pickup. In the automaker's defense, GM needs to make tough decisions quickly because of this rapidly changing market, and unions don't really react as the wind blows.

Other unions affected by the four plant closings are also miffed, but none went so far as those crazy Canadians. The union at GM's Moraine, Ohio plant, for instance, expressed its displeasure with being closed and has stated publicly that it plans to fight the closings, but considering that it builds the Chevy Trailblazer, GMC Envoy and Saab 9-7x, we'd say there isn't much hope for union workers in Moraine, OH.

[Source: CBC]

Speeders caught in in a radar trap in Oshawa, Ontario this week were offered a choice of punishment. They could opt for a traditional ticket and fine, or they could listen to a lecture about the dangers of their misdeeds -- not from John Law, mind you, but from local teens participating in a program that's basically about using public shaming as a way to combat speeding.

Drivers who opted for the lecture over the fine (and seriously, who wouldn't) would then be read a one-page essay by a local teenage boy or girl. These essays feature accident stats, reminders of the potential consequences of speeding, and in some cases, anecdotes about how speeders had negatively impacted the students' lives. According to the Toronto Star, the assembled teens "jeered" speeders as they were pulled over -- as if getting pulled over isn't annoying enough to begin with.

Local police reps quoted in the article seem to love the program, claiming it's a better deterrent because people given regular tickets just pay their fines and move on. Conversely, they say that the experience of being dressed-down by an 11th-grader is something that sticks with the offender long after he or she drives away. Hey, if it works, great. After all, drivers avoid a fine but still have to deal with the inconvenience of a traffic stop, compounded by the indignity of a lecture from some kid. Somehow, we're not surprised to learn that the use of this particular program is the exception rather than the norm. The Star reports that other police officers prefer the traditional speeding ticket's more "tangible results." Or is that "result$"?

[Source: Toronto Star via FARK]

General Motors' announcement last week to build the Camaro and other rear-wheel-drive product at its soon-revamped Oshawa facility is a perfect ignition source for all sorts of RWD product rumors, so let's get things started with talk about the Pontiac G8. The cancellation of the Bonneville has left the Poncho brand without a full-size vehicle, and the end of the GTO's run means that a combination of RWD and a V8 can no longer be found at a Pontiac dealer. So much for being the "excitement" division, huh?

Well, that may quickly change, as Pontiac wants to build a full-size RWD vehicle on the Camaro's Zeta platform. This would provide a flagship vehicle for the faltering brand, and would likely be the sportiest RWD GM sedan this side of Cadillac's V-series (Buick and Chevrolet are also likely to be receiving Zeta-based four-doors). Such a vehicle would likely follow the Camaro's showroom appearance in late 2008.

To us, this seems like a no-brainer. SUV buyers seem to be looking to migrate to a car without giving up much in the way of size or performance, and of course vehicles like the Chrysler 300C are doing well because of this market trend. Such a vehicle would give GM a way to flex its V8 powertrain prowess, would help Pontiac live up to its billing, and should be a strong contender in that oh-so-densely-packed $35-40K near-luxury segment.

[Source: Chicago Tribune]

Several readers alerted us to a report out of Canada on Friday stating that GM has selected its Oshawa, Ontario plant to build the new Camaro. A formal announcement is expected on Monday.

The news caps a good week for the Canadian Auto Workers union, who also learned that GM's plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs in the city were scuttled because Impala sales are so strong. That, plus the Camaro announcement, clear up the picture for the 2 years remaining on the CAW's contract with GM, during which no permanent layoffs are expected at the Oshawa facilities, according to sources who spoke to The Globe and Mail.

General Motors is expected to detail plans to create a flexible manufacturing facility in Oshawa with an annual production capacity of up to 500,000 vehicles, including the Camaro. Reports put GM's annual sales projections for the new musclecar at 100,000 units. The Zeta rear-drive platform that it will be built on is expected to be used for a host of other GM vehicles in the pipeline.

Thanks to tipsters bojac, CTG and Matt D!

[Source: The Globe and Mail]

With the reintroduction of the Chevrolet Camaro all but certain, General Motors and the UAW are now trying to figure out where to build the beast. Officials from the union are making a pitch for the recently idled Oklahoma City plant, which assembled long-wheelbase versions of the Chevy TrailBlazer and GMC Envoy. By securing the Camaro, the plant would presumably also "win" the assembly of other Zeta-based vehicles.

We're not quite sure how this plays into the reports from last month that the CAW made significant concessions in an attempt secure the assembly of the Camaro, but it's possible - and we're only speculating here - that the OK City plant's previous RWD product may give it an advantage.

[Source: The Detroit News]