GM building Trucks in Canada

[Keith Brown]

[h=2]A Statement from GM Canada President Scott Bell on Unifor Negotiations[/h][h=3][/h]2020-11-05

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TORONTO, Ont. (November 5, 2020) — GM Canada president and managing director Scott Bell today made the following statement upon reaching a tentative agreement with Unifor in 2020 Contract Bargaining:
“Subject to ratification of our 2020 agreement with Unifor, General Motors plans to bring pickup production back to the Oshawa Assembly Plant while making additional investments at the St. Catharines Propulsion Plant and Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre.
GM’s planned new investments will include C$1 billion to C$1.3 billion at Oshawa Assembly with the expected hiring of 1,400 to 1,700 hourly workers; C$109 million in St. Catharines to support added engine and transmission production; and C$0.5 million in operations at the Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre.
Construction will begin immediately at Oshawa Assembly and will include a new body shop and flexible assembly module, to support a fast response to strong customer demand for GM’s new family of pickup trucks. Oshawa pickup production is targeted to begin in January 2022. Pickups are GM’s largest and most important market segment in Canada and across the continent. They also help GM fund our transition to the electric, autonomous and highly connected future we see ahead.
These new investments will come in addition to GM’s other recent investments in Canada, which include a C$28 million Renewable Energy Cogeneration project at St. Catharines; a C$170 million investment in an after-market parts operation in Oshawa; ongoing expansion of GM’s Canadian Technology Centre and investments in the new 55-acre CTC McLaughlin Advanced Technology Track, and GM Canada’s ongoing work in Oshawa to manufacture 10 million face masks for the Government of Canada.
GM Canada plans to continue discussions with the Ontario and federal governments. We look forward to working closely with Unifor on these projects following ratification of our tentative 2020 agreement.”
Scott Bell, president and managing director, GM Canada

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About General Motors Canada
General Motors of Canada Company markets Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles through our strong Canadian network of dealers, as well as OnStar services. Headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario, GM Canada is a recognized leader in advanced manufacturing, green operations, active safety, and autonomous and connected vehicle technology research and development. More information on the company can be found at www.gm.ca or by following @GMcanada on Twitter or Instagram.

 

[LUCKY 7]

very much a good thing

 

[catalac]

Come on that’s all Trudeau and Freeland.... lol.

 

[adamg]

I like this opinion piece. It's funny so many here rail against Bombardier receiving subsidies but are happy to see it happening anew in the auto sector.

https://www.gananoquereporter.com/o...ctor/wcm/4757664d-0dec-4fa5-90df-4537ac87c146

 

[adamg]

I agree with LUCKY 7, if managed well, it can be a good thing.

I do not think we should be too quick to jump on a high horse here. I think a bit of government stimulus and handout tends to make the world go round. And, when its O&G in Alberta there tends to be an insatiable thirst that’s never quenched (don’t tax me or get in my business when times are good, but help out when they suck). Fairly certain wether its the fisheries in the Atlantic, the manufacturing in ON & QC, the O&G in Alberta, etc, etc. there is always a need for government intervention whether from a fiscal perspective or a policy perspective.

Renewing employment for ~1,700 people with a long term commitment to jobs reduces the strain from a variety of perspectives: financial (EI, welfare, assistance, etc) to mental health, to self-harm, abuse, etc. Plus, folks who can earn a wage to contribute spend and pay more tax. Again, if managed right, it can have the right outcome.

Or it could flop, time will tell.

Vladimir Lenin would like to award you the Comrade's Hammer, Juicecan. How would business function without the guiding hand of the all-knowing government pulling it along?

 

[niner]

These new trucks built in Canada can’t be shipped into the US every 6 months like guys are doing now. If your truck starts with a 1 in the serial number it’s been built in the US and can be shipped without border penalty. If it starts with a 2 dealerships can’t ship them. I was told Trump changed the law in June about only allowing US made vehicles back into the US.

 

[S.W.A.T.]

Of course GM would invade Canada, just another refugee looking for some Trudeau money

 

[busted2x]

Canada has a law that a certain percentage of all vehicles sold in Canada have to be built in Canada... it’s part of the new USMCA(replacement for nafta) it’s much closer to the old autopac in manufacturing percentage quotas.

 

[busted2x]

And thank god they are upgrading woodstock. Gm parts have been a gong show for the last year and change.

 

[Keith Brown]

GM hasn't been able to keep up with pickup demand since they closed down Oshawa plant a few years back. GM is closing orders in December of this year for Trucks. So I have to order NOW to get a truck next year. You definitely don't want to be on the end of the order sheet right now for a Chevy or GM pickup. It's been great run for Ford and Dodge who are getting the left overs from the under supply of the GM Pickups. Oshawa is going to put a dent in ford and dodge sales.

 

[Keith Brown]

Vladimir Lenin would like to award you the Comrade's Hammer, Juicecan. How would business function without the guiding hand of the all-knowing government pulling it along?

There is a lot of arm chair right wing economists on this site that don't know their hole from azz in the ground.

Should Peter Lougheed one of the best if not the best Premier's Alberta ever had been a recipient of the Comrade's Hammer? Was Lougheed Left Wing Deme? Under his leadership the Alberta Government owned a major interest in and had loan guaranties for the entire Oil Sand project in the 1970s. Oh gee maybe that's a bad thing now. Do you admire Greta Tune Bird? The Oshawa truck plant will generate nothing but money for this country. The small portion of the tax payers money invested in this plant will be payed back in spades for decades. I don't mind my Kentucky built GMC but I will be first in line for a Canadian built truck when that plant goes in to production.

 

[Cdnfireman]

Now that Biden is gonna be president I wouldn’t hang my hat on this going forward. The push to build stuff in America will slam to a halt and Mexico and China will go back to the old way of buying politicians and killing the US manufacturing industry. It will be what’s good for big business not what’s good for America again.