Not sure if I really wanted to resurrect this thread, but I figured that this article in the Windsor Star was pertinent to the discussion. Perhaps it may settle some of the speculation (or,
I hope not,incite more) that went on here earlier:
Costs hinder replacing Camaro in Oshawa
Kevin Williams, president and managing director of General Motors Canada.
Photograph by: Tyler Brownbridge, The Windsor Star
Ellen Van Wageningen, The Windsor Star
| Jan 15, 2013 | Last Updated: Jan 15, 2013 - 8:04 UTC
General Motors' decision to pull production of the next generation Chevrolet Camaro out of Oshawa does not signal the inevitable decline of the plant, but high costs in Canada make it harder to move another vehicle there, says the company's most senior executive in Canada.
It is possible production to replace the Camaro could be moved there, but "it requires a lot of things to happen," GM Canada president and managing director Kevin Williams said during a media session at the North American International Auto Show on Monday.
He pointed out that Oshawa is making some of the company's most important vehicles, such as the next generation Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS. He also hinted that GM's future plans for Oshawa will hinge on finding ways to cut costs.
The decision to move Camaro to a plant in Lansing, Mich., consolidates production of rear-wheel drive cars and the business case was so compelling GM didn't have to think twice or consult with the union and governments, Williams said.
"In terms of the competitiveness of Canada, there's no mistake that Canada continues to be the highest cost producer for GM anywhere else in the world. Our labour costs are among the highest. We've got to continue to work with our union partners to make sure that we continue to make it the best place we can possibly do vehicles," he said.
Canadian Auto Workers president Ken Lewenza none of that has been conveyed to him since GM announced the decision on Dec. 19.
"It's blatantly, blatantly disrespectful that they made a decision on cost when in contract bargaining (in September) they suggested they maintained a competitive process" in Oshawa, he said.
"It borders on bad faith bargaining," said Lewenza, who is scheduled to meet with GM's vice-president of global manufacturing Tim Lee on Jan. 21 in Detroit to discuss the decision.
The CAW will not open up its new contract to get the Camaro production replaced by another vehicle, he said. The union expects it will cost about 1,000 jobs in Oshawa if nothing replaces the Camaro when the current model production ends in 2015 or 2016.
GM, which is entering its fourth year post-bankruptcy, is restructuring to be as lean and efficient as possible, said Williams.
The company has exceeded all the commitments it made in exchange for receiving $10.6 billion from the federal and Ontario governments during its U.S. bankruptcy, he said.
GM made the right decision to move Camaro to make productions more efficient, said Toronto-based auto analyst Dennis DesRosiers.
But the company bungled the announcement last month by failing to bring the CAW and government in well ahead of time to get them onside, he said.
"The reality is the North American market has such a significant upside growth over the next three to five years that General Motors needs every bit of capacity they could possibly find in their North American system," DesRosiers said.
"The Camaro production will be matched car-for-car within a quarter or two quarters. If they don't, General Motors walks from market share," he said.
The market is going up 500,000 to a million units a year in North America and automakers that want to grab some of those sales need to pump up production, DesRosiers said.
"I don't think they're abandoning Canada, but they certainly aren't committing any more than they have to Canada. It's mostly just an issue of economics," said Tony Faria, co-director the Office of Automotive and Vehicle Research at the University of Windsor's Odette School of Business.
GM put $185 million into its flexible manufacturing in Oshawa, where it is expected to add a third shift early this year to assemble the Cadillac XTS and next generation Chevrolet Impala. That is creating 900 jobs, but in mid2014 GM is shutting down its consolidated plant in Oshawa which currently employs 750 workers.
Second-tier workers hired in Lansing, Mich., to build the next generation of the Cama-ro will start at US$15.78 per hour and top out at US$19.28 in four years, compared to the $34.33 autoworkers on the line make in Oshawa, Faria noted. The situation is the same in Spring Hill, Tenn., where overflow of the Chevrolet Equinox is being built compared to the Oshawa and CAMI plants in Canada.
evanwageningen@windsorstar. com
There it is. The floor is now open to intelligent and respectful discussion...