GM Plans Production Shift for Van Nuys ‘Flex Plant’
General Motors Corp. is expected to move production of its sporty Camaro and Firebird cars to Canada from California, clearing the way for a new kind of GM factory in the Los Angeles area, a company official said today.
A news conference was set for this afternoon in Ste. Therese, Quebec, where GM’s Canadian subsidiary now makes the Chevrolet Lumina coupe and sedan and Oldsmobile Ciera car.
GM spokeswoman Kathy Tanner said in Detroit that the company is expected to announce that production of a new Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, called F-cars, will be moved to the Canadian plant from GM’s plant in Van Nuys.
“The Van Nuys facility will continue to produce the current F-car, and the timetable for the introduction of the next generation hasn’t been established,” she said.
It is expected that the shift will take place in time for the Ste. Therese plant to begin making Camaros and Firebirds in 1992 for the 1993 model year.
Sales of Camaros and Firebirds this year through April 20 were down 35% and 39.6%, respectively.
There are about 3,500 employees at the Ste. Therese plant and about 3,800 at the Van Nuys factory. It was unclear this morning how the production shift would affect employment at the two plants.
It was also unclear if Ste. Therese would continue making its current products, which are substantially different than the current version of the Camaro and Firebird.
In place of the Camaro and Firebird, GM hopes to establish a “flex plant” at Van Nuys, Tanner said.
“It would be a facility capable of assembling a number of various models that would allow us to respond more quickly to the Western market,” she said. She declined to elaborate.
Small, sporty cars and sport-utility vehicles are popular in the West, especially in Southern California.
A final decision on altering the Van Nuys plant hasn’t been made, she said, but she added that backers of the plan were encouraged greatly that it would be approved.
“We are optimistic that we can develop the business case for the Van Nuys plant,” Tanner said.
