Friday, November 25, 2011

Report: GM to build Chevy Equinox in old Saturn Spring Hill plant

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aerial view of General Motors Spring Hill Tennessee plant

With three shifts running at two Canadian assembly plants, General Motors is cranking out as many Chevrolet Equinox crossovers as it can. Rather than miss out on sales because demand is outstripping supply, the company's Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, idled since 2009, is being put into service to pick up the overflow. Spring Hill will be nowhere near its yearly capacity picking up the Equinox's slack, however. The plant was originally the assembly point for Saturn's entire line, after all, so there's capability for body stamping and engine production in addition to the assembly line. Most recently, the Chevrolet Traverse was produced at the facility, and General Motors plans to put what it's calling a midsize vehicle there by 2015.

For now, $61 million is being invested in Spring Hill to make the changes for Equinox production, and 685 workers are being brought on board. The green button will be pushed sometime in the second half of 2012, and the ultimate plan for Spring Hill is to be a quick-change artist capable of flexible operation. An additional $183 million and 1,196 personnel will be invested in Spring Hill for the midsize vehicle effort, as well.

Equinox inventory has been uncomfortably low for GM for the last three years, which might eg the question "Why now?" when Chevrolet's hot-potato crossover is going to face increasing challenges from recently refreshed competitors like the 2012 Honda CR-V and 2013 Ford Escape. However, this isn't the first time that Equinox production has been expanded. At the very least, the Spring Hill plant makes some sense as an overflow facility because of its rail line connections, lower-cost Southern U.S. location, and capacity. Balance those savings out against the cost of shipping parts in from suppliers and the U.S. dollar vs. Canadian dollar exchange rate, and GM is either legitimately trying to create a super overflow plant with ultra-flexible operation, or just herding cats to some other end. Check out the press release posted after the jump for the official word.

Continue reading GM to build Chevy Equinox in old Saturn Spring Hill plant

GM to build Chevy Equinox in old Saturn Spring Hill plant originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/11/25/gm-to-build-chevy-equinox-in-old-saturn-spring-hill-plant/

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