GM Internal Study Ranks Van Nuys Plant as Its Worst : Autos: The report seems to point to a grim future for the often-troubled sports car manufacturing facility.

An internal study of General Motors Corp.’s North American car assembly plants reportedly showed that the auto maker’s Van Nuys facility had the worst production quality among the 21 plants surveyed in late 1989.

The Van Nuys plant, which builds the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird sports cars, had 676 problems per 100 cars produced, according to the GM study. Comparatively, the top-ranking plant was GM’s Buick City, Mich., facility, which builds the Buick Le Sabre and had 250 problems per 100 cars.

The study, which was issued within the company in late January and disclosed Thursday by United Press International, could further jeopardize what is already a bleak future for the Van Nuys plant, which employs about 3,400 workers.

Last October, GM announced that the plant would not build the next generation of the Camaro and Firebird, which are expected to debut in 1992 or 1993. GM is expected to shift production of the cars to its plant in Ste. Therese in Canada, which currently builds the Oldsmobile Ciera and Celebrity station wagon.

GM did ask the Van Nuys plant’s managers to develop a plan for converting the facility to a “flex plant” that would be capable of producing more than one model on quick notice, to respond to changes in demand. GM suggested that such a plant would build vehicles that are especially popular in the western United States. Still, GM has made no guarantees that the plant will stay open after it stops building the Camaro and Firebird.

Most Camaros and Firebirds are sold east of the Rockies. Overall sales of the cars--whose basic design has changed little since 1982--have dropped sharply in recent years, and that has contributed to the decade-long slide in GM’s U.S. market share to about 35%.

Barry E. Herr, who became manager of the Van Nuys plant last October, was traveling Thursday and was not available for comment, plant spokesman Paul Crook said. In Warren, Mich., where GM’s Chevrolet-Pontiac-Canada division is based, spokesman Edmond Dilworth Jr. said, “We don’t comment on internal studies.”

The plant rankings were part of GM’s continuous automotive marketing information program studies. Done quarterly, they are part of GM’s effort to gauge customer acceptance of its vehicles by polling thousands of buyers and using certain technical measurements, UPI quoted unidentified sources as saying.

Independent analysts also have been critical of the Van Nuys plant. J. D. Power & Associates, an Agoura Hills research firm, reported in August, 1988, that Van Nuys had the second-lowest quality rating of GM’s car plants and “will probably be shut down.”

GM has a 22nd car plant--the Willow Run facility in Ypsilanti, Mich.--that was excluded from the recent GM study because it is in the early stages of producing a new model of Chevrolet Caprice. A truck plant in North Tarrytown, N.Y., that makes minivans was excluded for the same reason from a separate listing of truck plants.

Among GM’s other 10 truck plants, the facility with the lowest ranking was in Flint, Mich., where GM builds Chevrolet Suburban and Blazer trucks. GM’s truck plants are measured somewhat differently from its car plants, and the figures on the two lists are not comparable.

The Flint plant had 848 problems per 100 vehicles, UPI said. The top truck plant, with 403 problems per 100 trucks, was in Moraine, Ohio, where S-10 and S-15 pickups are built.

KEEPING MR. GOODWRENCH BUSY

Following is a ranking of General Motors Corp.’s North American assembly plants in terms of quality levels as of late 1989, according to a classified study by the No. 1 auto maker. GM’s Ypsilanti, Mich., and North Tarrytown, N.Y., plants were not included in the study because they were involved in new model launches.

Cars

Problems per Rank Plant State Product 100 vehicles 1. Buick City Mich. Buick LeSabre 250 2. Lake Orion Mich. DeVille, Olds 98 289 3. Det-Hamtramck Mich. Eldorado, Seville, Allante 304 Toronado, Riviera 4. Wentzville Mo. Olds 88, 315 Pontiac Bonneville 5. Lansing B Mich. Pontiac Grand Am 319 6. Lansing A Mich. Olds Calais, 337 Buick Skylark 7. Oklahoma City Okla. Buick Century 361 Pontiac 6000 Olds Ciera 8. Craft Centre Mich. Buick Reatta 365 9. Lakewood Ga. Olds large wagon 369 10. Oshawa No. 2 Canada Buick Regal, 371 Chevrolet Lumina 11. Ste. Therese Canada Olds Ciera 374 Celebrity wagon 12. Oshawa No. 1 Canada Lumina 390 13. Wilmington Del. Chevrolet Corsica, 397 Beretta 14. Arlington Tex. Cadillac Brougham 435 15. Janesville Wis. Chevrolet Cavalier 436 16. Fairfax Kan. Pontiac Grand Prix 446 17. Doraville Ga. Olds Cutlass Supreme 470 18. Bowling Green Ky. Chevrolet Corvette 487 19. Lordstown Ohio Cavalier, 506 Pontiac Sunbird 20. Linden N.J. Corsica, Beretta 511 21. Van Nuys Calif. Camaro, Firebird 676

GM’s TRUCK PROBLEMS

Trucks

Problems per Rank Plant State Product 100 vehicles 1. Moraine Ohio S-10, S-15 pickups 403 2. Pontiac East Mich. Chevrolet, 412 GMC C-K pickups 3. Ft. Wayne Ind. Chevrolet, 421 GMC C-K pickups 4. Oshawa Truck Canada Chevrolet, 430 GMC C-K pickups 5. Pontiac West Mich. Chevrolet Blazer, 463 GMC Jimmy 6. Lordstown Ohio Chevrolet, GMC G-vans 542 7. Shreveport La. S-10, S-15, Blazer, 554 Jimmy 8. Baltimore Md. Astro, Safari vans 562 9. Scarborough Canada Chevrolet, GMC G-vans 793 10. Flint Truck Mich. Chevrolet Blazer, 848 Suburban

Source: United Press International