GM Seeking Expansion of Missouri Plant Will GM's Wentzville, MO plant end up building new small trucks? www.GMInsideNews.com
September 15, 2011
By: Nick Saporito
The Chevrolet Colorado Concept, revealed earlier this year at the Bangkok Motor Show.
Yesterday the city council of Wentzville, Missouri approved property tax incentives for General Motors to expand its assembly plant in the town. The unexpected news comes months after rumors surfaced that the Missouri plant would assemble GM's next generation midsize trucks.
According to reports from local St. Louis media, GM has told the city that, if ultimately carried out, they would expand the facility by about 500,000 square feet. The reports also state that the expansion could add up to 2,000 additional jobs to the plant. Today Wentzville has 1,019 hourly employees building GM's full-size vans.
Back in February PickupTrucks.com reported that GM is likely to build their next-generation midsize trucks in Wentzville. GMI was able to corroborate the report independently.
GM's next-generation midsize trucks are currently slated to launch sometime in the first half of 2014, likely as 2015 models. Although not confirmed through sources, it is expected that the next-generation midsize trucks will continue on the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon names.
The new trucks will be based off of the same architecture as the recently revealed Chevrolet Colorado for Asian markets and the Holden Colorado in Australia.
According to GM's official comment regarding the matter, the Wentzville facility is one of several plants in the running for the future product. To clarify, GM is not officially commenting on which future product the expansion would be utilized for.
Production of the current Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon is slated to end in mid-2012. The Shreveport, Louisiana plant that produces them will then close.
I think that the small truck twins should continue on until these new ones come out. The market might shrink so small that when the new ones come out, nobody will care about them.
But what if they continue with the current one, and because of that the market/customer base shrinks so small nobody will care about them. (and isn't this where this truck is already?)
Why not just build the new trucks at Shreveport, Janesville, or Spring Hill if Wentzville needs to be expanded? What is happening to the van's built at Wentzville? I vote for keeping the current Colorado and Canyon in production while we wait for the new trucks to arrive.
When is the next MCE or complete redesign expected for the Express/Savana vans? Could this "new model" be the next generation of vans that will actually replace the Express/Savana? Possibly a NA built Opel/Vauxhall Movano as discussed in the Ford E-series thread?
Wish I could have been there! I use to live in Wentzville and worked at Lear Corporation across the street from GM. We made the seats for the Vans and I was a quality engineer for Lear.
Back in '96 GM was expanding the plant to add a stamping department for body panels. Now a whole new truck! Sounds good for the Show Me state!
That was one impressive assembly plant in Wentzville. I was in there almost every night and got worn out walking from one end to the other!
Why not just build the new trucks at Shreveport, Janesville, or Spring Hill if Wentzville needs to be expanded? What is happening to the van's built at Wentzville? I vote for keeping the current Colorado and Canyon in production while we wait for the new trucks to arrive.
When is the next MCE or complete redesign expected for the Express/Savana vans? Could this "new model" be the next generation of vans that will actually replace the Express/Savana? Possibly a NA built Opel/Vauxhall Movano as discussed in the Ford E-series thread?
Makes me wonder if Hyundai or Kia will jump into the market before then. Or Mazda could re-skin their truck for American tastes. Or heck, Ford could change their mind - and bring the global Ranger here.
Aren't they being built in Thailand already? I thought these were about a year away, not 2 1/2 years away. Bring the 2.5 L diesel with it and manual transmission.
Article says Shreveport production will end in "mid 2012?" I thought I'd read elsewhere that the assembly of the Colorado would shut down by this December. I guess the fate of the current line is really in flux.
There is nothing wrong with the Shreveport location.
In today's economic climate, there is no excuse for expanding a plant to build mid sized trucks when you already have one set up to do it.
Retail price in comparison to full size trucks is one of the determining factors that killed Colorado/Canyon, and you're going to start off a new truck with unnecessary plant expansion costs?
General Motors Company does not technically own the Shreveport facility. It was spun off as part of General Motors Corporation's ("Old GM") assets in bankruptcy. I assume "New GM" is leasing it.
Well, they'll have plenty of time to fix the design then...
Have I said before how much I Hate that Asian looking bed? The Awful outdated 'afterburner' taillights? The Hideous stamped indentations on the rear quarters of the bed behind the wheelwells? I don't particularly care for the tailgate either.. Nor do I like the Honda Ridgeline look.
Everything flows so nicely until you get behind the nicely rounded rear wheelwells.. Then it all goes to hell.
I'd add they need to make those headlights look more agressive. More 'Evil Eyed' if you will... Nothing tacky, just enough to make it look a little tough and mean. I think the current Tahoe pulls that look off quite well. Give it the the ZR2 treatment option while you're at it with nice beefy tires.
The Wentzville plant is relatively new, and some 3.7 million square feet.
To me, the plant(s) that get the new Colorado should also be in line for an SUV based on the platform. Has there been any word for a Trailblazer replacement?
Whether it's the full-size vans, a new mid-size pickup or some combination of models, I hope GM moves forward with the expansion. The St. Louis metropolitan area used to be home to three assembly plants; Wentzville is all that remains. We need the employment booster shot, both from assembly plant expansion and from secondary and tertiary ones created by parts suppliers and other employers near the plant.
2014???? That's too long! The midsizers have been on the market since 2006, without any major changes to the bodywork or the interior. It will be comical if the full-size pickups get release before the midsizers do.
with rising Petrol prices and a "lackluster" jobs report over the next few years I believe if the new Midsizers can improve FE EX in town I don't think asking price being the same would be a killer
This new Colorado looks great! I'm happy see this first tangible evidence that the new truck may indeed be coming to North America. There had been a lot of speculation that GM was going to abandon this segment in the same way Ford is rumored to be doing. IMO the very fact that Ford may be abandoning the segment is the very reason GM should bring Colorado to North America. I like this truck! I can't wait to see production versions.
2.5 years is too long to wait. They should import them for a year until American production is up and running. Kind of like what they did with the Buick Regal.
I don't know what the taxes on importing trucks are but that's precisely what I was thinking. If current production is ending in 2012 and the new model isn't debuting until 2014, import the new model until the plant is ready and they've finished designing the Canyon.
Speaking of which, if the Canyon uses anything like the concept design language from the Denali and Granite, I'm in.
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