Report: GM Planning Big Investment in Missouri Truck/Van Plant

by Steph Willems

Published: May 2nd, 2019

report gm planning big investment in missouri truck van plant

The news out of Missouri today claims General Motors wants to invest big in its Wentzville assembly plant, a 3.7 million square feet facility located just west of St. Louis. The plant is home to the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickups, as well as the aged Chevy Express and GMC Savana commercial vans.

According to local reports, GM reps seeking state incentives are in talks with the governor, with a potential $1 billion investment hanging in the balance.

The initial report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (spotted by Automotive News) didn’t provide any details of GM’s intentions re: product. Instead, it details a controversial list of incentives aimed at funding job training and retooling that GM will no doubt attempt to extract from Gov. Mike Parson.

The newspaper learned of the potential plant investment via meetings held between Parsons and certain Missouri lawmakers on Wednesday. When asked, denizens of the Capitol building said they didn’t know the extent of what GM wanted from their state.

“If GM wants to invest another billion dollars in the plant in my district, I am thrilled to hear that,” said Sen. Bob Onder (R-Lake Saint Louis). “But I really didn’t hear anything today that would require new legislation or new programs above and beyond what we have.”

Wentzville Assembly opened in 1983 and employs over 3,400 hourly workers on three shifts.

“Although we have no announcements or information to share at this time, we appreciate the willingness of state officials in Missouri to work with us on potential opportunities within the state,” a GM spokesperson told AN.

NBC affiliate KSDK claims union officials have called for investments in the plant for years as a way of preserving jobs. UAW president, Glenn Kage, currently in Detroit for talks with GM brass, said word of what the automaker intends to do with that $1 billion will likely come out of the meeting.

While the Colorado/Canyon twins are expected to see a design refresh later this year, a full redesign isn’t expected until 2022. That leaves the ancient Express and Savana van — heavy-duty offerings which have only seen a couple of front-end refreshes since debuting in 1995. In 2014, GM discontinued the half-ton 1500 version of the Express/Savana, preferring to offer a smaller, badge-engineered Nissan van instead. Chevy’s City Express bowed out of the market last year.

Still, volume remains fairly stable, with 2018 being the Express’ best sales year since 2008.

With Ford flaunting its continuously improved Transit and Transit Connect, could GM’s investment have something to do with its limited (and older than old) van lineup? We’ll have to wait and see.

[Images: General Motors]

#GeneralMotors #GM #Investment #Production #Trucks #Vans #WentzvilleAssembly

Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments

Join the conversation

3 of 13 comments

Redgolf on May 03, 2019

I looked at the new Blazer yesterday at the dealership, I really liked it, although I thought it resembled the Terrain, both made in Mexico, shame!

Like Reply
Eggsalad on May 03, 2019

Ford and FCA have European divisions from which to "borrow" a modern van. Since the sale of Opel, GM does not. Besides, I think there are enough fleet buyers who are scared of anything "modern" so they keep buying the Express. And they didn't quit making the 1/2-ton model for any other reason than it was a drag on EPA numbers. 3/4-ton and higher vans are in a different EPA category.

Like Reply
- Gtem on May 03, 2019
  
  I wonder how much Nissan's NV has been stepping on the toes of the Express with the "traditional" buyers insisting on BOF. I will say I see a ton of Transits, to the point of them becoming automotive white noise on the roads, good for Ford.
  
  Like

Recent Comments

Redapple2 Love the wheels
Redapple2 Good luck to them. They used to make great cars. 510. 240Z, Sentra SE-R. Maxima. Frontier.
Joe65688619 Under Ghosn they went through the same short-term bottom-line thinking that GM did in the 80s/90s, and they have not recovered say, to their heyday in the 50s and 60s in terms of market share and innovation. Poor design decisions (a CVT in their front-wheel drive "4-Door Sports Car", model overlap in a poorly performing segment (they never needed the Altima AND the Maxima...what they needed was one vehicle with different drivetrain, including hybrid, to compete with the Accord/Camry, and decontenting their vehicles: My 2012 QX56 (I know, not a Nissan, but the same holds for the Armada) had power rear windows in the cargo area that could vent, a glass hatch on the back door that could be opened separate from the whole liftgate (in such a tall vehicle, kinda essential if you have it in a garage and want to load the trunk without having to open the garage door to make room for the lift gate), a nice driver's side folding armrest, and a few other quality-of-life details absent from my 2018 QX80. In a competitive market this attention to detai is can be the differentiator that sell cars. Now they are caught in the middle of the market, competing more with Hyundai and Kia and selling discounted vehicles near the same price points, but losing money on them. They invested also invested a lot in niche platforms. The Leaf was one of the first full EVs, but never really evolved. They misjudged the market - luxury EVs are selling, small budget models not so much. Variable compression engines offering little in terms of real-world power or tech, let a lot of complexity that is leading to higher failure rates. Aside from the Z and GT-R (low volume models), not much forced induction (whether your a fan or not, look at what Honda did with the CR-V and Acura RDX - same chassis, slap a turbo on it, make it nicer inside, and now you can sell it as a semi-premium brand with higher markup). That said, I do believe they retain the technical and engineering capability to do far better. About time management realized they need to make smarter investments and understand their markets better.
Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Off-road fluff on vehicles that should not be off road needs to die.
Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Saw this posted on social media; “Just bought a 2023 Tundra with the 14" screen. Let my son borrow it for the afternoon, he connected his phone to listen to his iTunes.The next day my insurance company raised my rates and added my son to my policy. The email said that a private company showed that my son drove the vehicle. He already had his own vehicle that he was insuring.My insurance company demanded he give all his insurance info and some private info for proof. He declined for privacy reasons and my insurance cancelled my policy.These new vehicles with their tech are on condition that we give up our privacy to enter their world. It's not worth it people.”