General Motors announced today that the next generation of the Camaro will be built at the Lansing Grand River (LGR) Assembly Plant. The Cadillac CTS and ATS are currently assembled at the Lansing plant.
The move could take a few years, according to the Detroit News.
The current model Camaro is built in Oshawa, Ontario.
The announcement sparked concerns that the move would lead to job losses at the plant in Canada.
Dana Flavelle of the Toronto Star reports the effect on jobs is not known yet.
“At this stage, there’s no immediate impact on employment. In the longer term, we really can’t speculate at this time,” GM Canada spokesperson Faye Roberts said in a conference call with reporters. The timing will depend on when the product life cycle of the current generation Camaro comes to an end. “We haven’t said a specific time,” Roberts said.
In a statement, GM said "lower capital investment and improved production efficiencies" were reasons for their decision.
The Camaro is the only rear-wheel drive (RWD) vehicle built at Oshawa. Assembling the next-generation Camaro at LGR consolidates the RWD assembly with the Cadillac CTS and ATS. As a result, GM will continue to deliver top-quality vehicles as efficiently as possible.
The company says they will meet the production targets the company agreed to with the Canadian and Ontario governments during the GM restructuring.
The Canadian Auto Workers President Ken Lewenza said in a statement that GM's decision "has once again shown a complete and utter disregard for its workers and also Canadians in general, whose tax dollars kept the company out of bankruptcy."
GM says it will continue to make the current Camaro "until the end of the current product lifecycle," and that other cars will continue to be produced on Oshawa:
The Buick Regal continues to be produced there, and GM recently invested $185 million to support the launch of two new products on the flex line as well: the all-new Cadillac XTS and the next-generation Chevrolet Impala scheduled to launch in 2013. In addition, GM recently announced it will add a third shift to support the launch of the new Impala there. The consolidated line at Oshawa Assembly will continue to produce the current generation Chevrolet Impala and Equinox until June 2014.
