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Truck production to begin at Oshawa plant

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

The 2018 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra models are set to be rolling off the Oshawa GM Plant assembly line in just a few weeks.

Production is scheduled to begin in early-February according to Jennifer Wright, manager of corporate and internal communications for GM Canada.

“This investment is for current model pickup production that helps us meet customer demand as we transition our production and introduce our exciting new models into the market starting later in 2018,” Wright says.

Wright says the company expects a combined 60,000 units of both models will be produced in Oshawa this year.

As for the future, Wright says “the market will determine” demand, and current employment levels are expected to be retained.

This new line comes on the heels of GM suspending production of the Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS for the first three weeks of January.

Colin James, president of Unifor Local 222, the union which represents Oshawa plant workers, told The Oshawa Express when production of the Impala and XTS resumes, the number of shifts will decline from two to one.

In anticipation of production of the Silverado and Sierra, the company made several upgrades to the consolidated line at the Oshawa plant.

“This program is all related to the investment of approximately $500 million in Oshawa to transform the consolidated line (which was producing the previous-generation Chevrolet Equinox) to be able to build current-generation Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks as part of an innovative ‘shuttle’ program with Fort Wayne Assembly,” Wright says.

 

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