General Motors is increasing production at several North America assembly plants in response to increased sales. The company will add shifts, overtime and reinstate forecasted down weeks at select facilities. As a result, GM will add about 60,000 vehicles in the third and mainly the fourth quarter production forecast, ensuring a wide selection of high-quality, fuel efficient cars, crossovers and trucks for customers.
To help meet the increased demand, GM is adding shifts at CAMI, Ontario, Canada where the next generation Chevy Equinox and all-new GMC Terrain are built and Lordstown, Ohio where we build the fuel-efficient Chevy Cobalt. This will bring approximately 1,350 UAW and CAW employees back to the assembly lines. The Chevy HHR and Colorado and the GMC Canyon are also experiencing increased demand. Based on consumer reaction to the Chevy Camaro, Cadillac SRX and CTS Wagon and the Buick LaCrosse, we anticipate the need to increase production at our plants will continue.
“We are running our plants to maintain maximum flexibility and keep production tightly aligned with customer demand,” said Tim Lee, GM group vice president, global manufacturing and labor. “The uptick is an encouraging sign that vehicle sales are turning around, and we will ramp up quickly to meet that demand.”
In July and August, the popular Cash for Clunkers program generated substantial demand for a broad range of fuel efficient vehicles within GM, including the Chevy Aveo, Cobalt, HHR, Malibu, Equinox and Colorado. This latest round of production increases will go a long way in rebuilding dealer inventories to help us meet strong consumer demand.
“It’s gratifying to see demand for our products accelerate and we are extremely lean with inventories on our launch products like Camaro, Equinox, LaCrosse, SRX, CTS Wagon and Terrain,” said Mark LaNeve, vice president, U.S. sales. “During the third quarter 2009, we’ve added production which will result in 35 percent increase over the second quarter. With today’s announcement of further additions, the fourth quarter will now be at least 20 percent higher than the third quarter, which is a very positive trend.”
About General Motors: General Motors Company, one of the world's largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 219,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 140 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 34 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's largest national market is the United States, followed by China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia and Germany. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors Company acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corporation.
