GM Idles Ohio Mid-Size SUV Plant

[Ming]

GM Idles Ohio SUV Plant
Dowjones
May 21, 2004

MORAINE, Ohio (AP)--General Motors (GM) is shutting down its Moraine Assembly plant for a week, temporarily laying off 4,000 workers.

The suburban Dayton plant is to close June 14th through June 21st.

GM spokesman Dan Flores says the temporary closure will slow the supply of three mid-sized sport-utility vehicles made at the plant: the GMC Envoy, Chevrolet TrailBlazer and Buick Rainier.

Full Article Here

[dindak]

GM needs to revise these trucks with better brakes (less mushy), freshened interiors and improved handling. That will solve part of the problem.

Gas prices falling back a bit would solve the other part of the sales slump but that won't happen till the fall if ever. Maybe working on a DOD system for better mileage numbers would be an idea.

[Ballistic]

I agree the Interior and brakes are my biggest gripe. My dad has a fully loaded Envoy (all options known to man). While it is nice and all the interior material/construction is poor and not to mention cramped. Also, I've had ABS kick in a number of times when breaking (while my fault, I kinda expected a little better grip from them).

[Ming]

Well, I agree at least one of the mid sized SUVs in this family needs a refresh (I think it needed one the moment it was introduced).

Which one looks like it was designed in 1998?


Trailblazer interior:



Ascender interior:

[b4z]

dindak,

How is everything going?
Looks like edmund's is played out.
Hardly any activity over there.

[LGRpup]

Man I cant believe the gas issue has already reduced sales that much to idle a plant. I dont think any of them need an interior touch except the TB, and yes those brakes. When you push them they act like "hold on... hold on....ok i am ready to stop", but I have learnt to adapt to them. I swore though that for 05 in a post here that the Interior would get jazzed up.?

[ponchoman49]

The Envoy and Ranier are the only interiors I like on these. Layoffs tell me people are not buying trucks with skyrocket gas prices. In my area small cars are selling like crazy and sport utes are pilled up everywhere! Not sure if it is that way elsewhere. These sport utes need some updates as stated. Brakes are weak, a 5 speed auto should have been offered from day one, along with side curtain air bags and a nicer Chevy interior. The Buick is the best but it is very expensive. The elimination of some standard equipment on the Chevy and GMC is not a good thing either. I mean power mirrors should be mandatory on these big rigs, not manual ones that you have to open the windows to move! And the space that used to hold the overhead console looks bare. The engines and interior room and space are the best parts of this chassis.

[dindak]

b4z : I still read the forums over at Edmunds sometimes, but they won't let me back on so if I ever do go back I will have to change my name. Oh well, they aren't as strick here which is nice. My Intrigue is still running great. How are you doing?


Ming : I actually like the the dash layouts for the most part but they need an upgrade now as the competition has pushed ahead now. Brakes should be much better than they are, they felt like they were 4 years old mushy when I tested. I still think they are nice trucks but for the money, they should be better.


poncoman : GM should start bringing the Optras (Canada only Daewoos) in the the US and start pumping out Cobalts ASAP. If gas prices stay high you can bet small car sales will boom again. $50 fill ups are killer!

[Mikkoo]

My God, that Trailblazer interior looks like it was straight
out of the early 90's, it reeks of cheapness. When is
GM going to get with the program and put updated, and
and upgraded interiors to match the competition?

[Chaddy0122]

I'm from the Dayton area and this is news to me........If any statements are released by the plant stating an exact reason, i'll post a link to a local news station website......

[tgagneguam]

I continue to be horrified at the idea of paying idle workers. This is not advantageous to GM, and by GM, I include the workers at other plants who are working. That's a pretty Draconian contract that the UAW has with "fellow" Big Three automakers.

[Bladon]

I think there's more than just an out of date interior. I bought a loaded, 2 seat, LTZ just after they were introduced. I agree the interior's cramped and dated. I'm 6' 3", the outside of my right knee laid on console, that starts to hurt after about 50 miles. For an "intermediate" sized SUV milage sucked, particularly in town. I turned in a Suburban, you'd think I'd have been overjoyed. I don't remember numbers, but it just wasn"t that much better. A major, major gripe for me was that the second seat doesn't fold flat, it rests at about a 10 or 15 degree angle. so you've got about 3 feet, then it's uphill. Without shimming it, I couldn't even get a dog crate to sit flat. Plus loading anything of length was a pain in the a**. Irregardless of "PR" the I 6 engine is barely adequate for towing. I pull about 1750lbs of trailer and ATVs in the fall and I felt it really struggled. When just using it around town for errands it was nice and snappy. If that engine's so great why did they start offering a V8? The truck had 3 or 4 recalls while I had it. Minor issue, but they hid the trailer wire harness under the bumper (some "shooter" probably thought it was ugly. I hope he had to hook up in the wet, cold or mud with that da** thing!) I must be one of those people marketing dreads, I use an SUV as a SUV. I'm a GM salaried retiree, I don"t know what is offered by competion. I disliked it enough to trade '02 for '02 (Z71 Tahoe a REALLY GREAT SUV!) and I lost a lot of money. It's the only time in my life I ever done that, I'm fortunate that I could. One other small issue, the vacuum hose came loose causing the engine to "hump", one more trip to the dealer. So at least to me , I think some of the decline was inevitable.

[ab348]

The Bravada was/is the best-executed of all of these. The Rainier is what the Bravada was supposed to be, except it doesn't look as good. The thing I just can't get over about these, especially the Envoy it seems, is how porky they look from certain angles. They just look way too heavy.

B4Z, dindak, nice to see you both!

[MelvinJ]

One of the more obvious reasons that nobody has brought up is that this has simply become a super-saturated market. The number of SUV's available today is staggering, and GM has been cranking them out full tilt for a long time. It's inevitable that some are going to pile up.

[frisky]

GM is idling the Linden plant the week of 6/14 also.