GM Adding Two Shifts At Michigan Plants
Given the disparity between the U.S. and Canadian auto industries, it’s not surprising that Friday started with news of a shift dropped at Fiat Chrysler’s Windsor, Ontario minivan plant and ends with two more added at General Motors facilities just across the border.
GM said today that a shift each will be added to its two Lansing, Michigan assembly plants; one to support a brace of new sedans (this could be the last time anyone writes such a statement), the other to support — what else? — crossover production.
Lansing Grand River Assembly stands to attract another 400 employees to help ramp up production of the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 sedans. The plant’s second shift comes on in the second quarter of the year.
At GM’s Lansing Delta Township Assembly, the Chevrolet Traverse/Buick Enclave line adds a third shift of 800 workers on the same timetable as LGR. Both plants were the recipient of cash infusions topping $200 million over the past couple of years.
For GM’s sake, one hopes the CT4 and CT5 perform better than the incredibly shrinking ATS and CTS that came before. As for the Traverse and Enclave, neither model shows any contraction in the previous year. Despite weathering a fourth-quarter slump, Traverse sales rose an infinitesimal 0.4 percent in 2019, earning the full-size crossover its best annual volume in its 11-year history.
The Enclave, despite selling in significantly smaller numbers than its bowtie brother, fared better in 2019, with volume up 3 percent. That’s the best showing of the model’s current generation, though the previous-gen Enclave regularly topped 2019’s tally. In fact, it did so from 2010 to 2016.
As for the first two months of 2020, GM’s quarterly reporting practices keep us from enjoying the answer to this sales query. Cleary, neither model tanked.
[Image: General Motors]
More by Steph Willems
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People want quality. GM hasn't figured that out yet. Sit in a $30k something CUV from a Hyundai or Toyota then make your way over to a GM dealer and sit in one at the same price point. You'll immediately see the difference. Look at the performance specs on their engines. Their new Cadillac SUV that looks so much like a Volvo XC90 has two more cylinders and somehow has like 40 less HP and even less Tq. Make a good compelling product and people will buy it from you... Check the new interior of their newly redesigned trucks. doesn't hold a candle to the new Ram let alone the segment leader F-150. Try harder, hire the correct people...
People want quality. GM hasn't figured that out yet. Sit in a $30k something CUV from a Hyundai or Toyota then make your way over to a GM dealer and sit in one at the same price point. You'll immediately see the difference. Look at the performance specs on their engines. Their new Cadillac SUV that looks so much like a Volvo XC90 has two more cylinders and somehow has like 40 less HP and even less Tq. Make a good compelling product and people will buy it from you... Check the new interior of their newly redesigned trucks. doesn't hold a candle to the new Ram let alone the segment leader F-150. Try harder, hire the correct people...