Jump to content
Create New...
  • William Maley
    William Maley

    GM Considers Outsourcing Some Production Of Commercial Vans To Boost Midsize Truck Production

      GM Is Trying To Squeeze Out More Midsize Trucks, So Some Commerical Van Production May Move Elsewhere

    General Motors' midsize trucks has become a bright spot for the company. Originally forecasted to sell around 80,000 this year, the company is now on track to selling near 120,000 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon trucks by the end of year. The two model are also the fastest-selling vehicles this year with the average time a Colorado sat on a dealer lot landing around 27 days. The Canyon was slightly longer with a 37 day average.

     

    But this has caused a supply problem for GM. The Wentzville, Missouri plant where both trucks are built has been pushed to the limits. Currently, the plant has three shifts and also builds models during the weekend. Even workers at the plant have agreed to plan to adjust break times to eliminate a six-minute lull between shifts.

     

    This appears to be not enough and GM is now looking into other measures. Automotive News has learned that GM is looking into outsourcing production of cutaway models of Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana, the other models built at Wentzville, to AM General. This was revealed to workers by a note sent out by GM earlier in the week.

     

    “The truck and van continue strong sales. This potential partnership would free up production capacity and allow the organization to capitalize on our ability to build midsize trucks to further satisfy customer demand,” said the note.

     

    According to a source, cutaway vans account for one-third of total production at Wentzville.

     

    AM General, the folks who brought you the Hummer, has been in the process of expanding its contract manufacturing business. Back in August, the company announced a deal with Mercedes-Benz to build the R-Class crossover that would then be sent over to China.

     

    Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    Smart Move by GM, I expect this to continue strong well through the end of next year now that they have the diesel also.

     

    Like Drew, I wonder how fast they can spin up production at the contractor for the van work.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Presumably AM General is at least familiar with GM processes. And if they're working as hired guns they can probably get up and running pretty quickly.

    What a wonderful problem for GM to have in the truck segment.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Guest Wings4Life(BANNED)

    Posted (edited)

    .

    Edited by Drew Dowdell
    I'm not going to let this stay up here because it's just going to cause a fight.
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I wonder how long the Savana and Express will last anyway.  They are like 20 year old designs and the Euro-style vans are taking over.  The Promaster is a bad vehicle luckily.  But I wonder if GM could allocate that whole factory to pick ups, and build a new van off a new platform some place else.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I wonder how long the Savana and Express will last anyway.  They are like 20 year old designs and the Euro-style vans are taking over.  The Promaster is a bad vehicle luckily.  But I wonder if GM could allocate that whole factory to pick ups, and build a new van off a new platform some place else.

    I do wonder if they plan to replace those oldies w/ a modern style van anytime soon.  

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I believe the problem is, GM's fullsize van in Europe is a joint venture, they don't have their own design like FCA (horrible FWD POS) or Ford (Transit, much nicer) so they may not have the authority to commit to the fullsize van market here with their European fullsize vans.  I hope they don't hand the market over completely to Ford here in the U.S.

     

    On the other hand, Ford is caught with their pants down here in the U.S. in midsize trucks.  When they dropped the Ranger, they had the audacity to state that the FIESTA would take over as the vehicle of choice for Ranger customers... they held the completely erroneous notion that Ranger customers were more interested in a CHEAP VEHICLE than an actual small pickup truck... everyone can see how that panned out.  Fiesta sales aren't exactly taking up the slack... and I don't see any aftermarket Fiesta Ranchero conversions yet.  ;)

     

    Another point:  how will Ford market their Aussie Ranger here with a tried-and-true steel body, next to their aluminum F-series?  They would sound like hypocrites.

    • Agree 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Yeah, the large Opel/Vauxhall Movano is a JV w/ Renault (it's based on the Renault Master), and the midsize Vivano is based on the Renault Trafic.

    Edited by Cubical-aka-Moltar
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Yeah, the large Opel/Vauxhall Movano is a JV w/ Renault (it's based on the Renault Master), and the midsize Vivano is based on the Renault Trafic.

    Hmmm... and Renault is in bed with Datsun, and Chevy sells the Datsun NV200 here in the U.S. as the City Express...  :huh:

     

    Which, BTW, I have seen like ZERO City Express vans around here on the road, and only very few NV200s... the Transit Connect RULES the tiny van market.  We won't mention the ProMaster City...

    Edited by ocnblu
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

     

    Yeah, the large Opel/Vauxhall Movano is a JV w/ Renault (it's based on the Renault Master), and the midsize Vivano is based on the Renault Trafic.

    Hmmm... and Renault is in bed with Datsun, and Chevy sells the Datsun NV200 here in the U.S. as the City Express...  :huh:

     

    Which, BTW, I have seen like ZERO City Express vans around here on the road, and only very few NV200s... the Transit Connect RULES the tiny van market.  We won't mention the ProMaster City...

     

    I have yet to see a City Express or a Pro Master City in the Phoenix area.  The only NV200s I've seen are on the front row of the Nissan dealer.  Maybe GM could do a JV to get a variation of the NV1500-3500 and put GM engines and Chevy/GMC noses on them.. 

     

    Note that Nissan hasn't used the Datsun name in the US in 30 years or so.. :)

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Guest Wings4Life(BANNED)

    Posted

    .

     

     

    Drew, honestly, preemptively modding remarks like that is strange.  Should I have qualified it as to why it would have helped?

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Guest Wings4Life(BANNED)

    Posted

    I believe the problem is, GM's fullsize van in Europe is a joint venture, they don't have their own design like FCA (horrible FWD POS) or Ford (Transit, much nicer) so they may not have the authority to commit to the fullsize van market here with their European fullsize vans.  I hope they don't hand the market over completely to Ford here in the U.S.

     

    On the other hand, Ford is caught with their pants down here in the U.S. in midsize trucks.  When they dropped the Ranger, they had the audacity to state that the FIESTA would take over as the vehicle of choice for Ranger customers... they held the completely erroneous notion that Ranger customers were more interested in a CHEAP VEHICLE than an actual small pickup truck... everyone can see how that panned out.  Fiesta sales aren't exactly taking up the slack... and I don't see any aftermarket Fiesta Ranchero conversions yet.  ;)

     

    Another point:  how will Ford market their Aussie Ranger here with a tried-and-true steel body, next to their aluminum F-series?  They would sound like hypocrites.

     

     

    ....and yet drew has no problem with blu's constant fight causing jabs at Ford.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

     

    I believe the problem is, GM's fullsize van in Europe is a joint venture, they don't have their own design like FCA (horrible FWD POS) or Ford (Transit, much nicer) so they may not have the authority to commit to the fullsize van market here with their European fullsize vans.  I hope they don't hand the market over completely to Ford here in the U.S.

     

    On the other hand, Ford is caught with their pants down here in the U.S. in midsize trucks.  When they dropped the Ranger, they had the audacity to state that the FIESTA would take over as the vehicle of choice for Ranger customers... they held the completely erroneous notion that Ranger customers were more interested in a CHEAP VEHICLE than an actual small pickup truck... everyone can see how that panned out.  Fiesta sales aren't exactly taking up the slack... and I don't see any aftermarket Fiesta Ranchero conversions yet.  ;)

     

    Another point:  how will Ford market their Aussie Ranger here with a tried-and-true steel body, next to their aluminum F-series?  They would sound like hypocrites.

     

     

    ....and yet drew has no problem with blu's constant fight causing jabs at Ford.

     

    Wings, this post you quoted has some positive remarks about Ford and their vans.  And you have to agree that dropping the Ranger and the reasoning they gave was off the mark.  Plus I think it is a valid point I brought up about the new Ranger, without denegrating the F-series.

    Edited by ocnblu
    • Agree 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Indeed.

    Anyhoo, an extra 40,000 GM passenger trucks per year going into garages is a boon for GM's market share, especially with their half-tons still outstripping the competition as well.

    • Agree 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    .

     

     

    Drew, honestly, preemptively modding remarks like that is strange.  Should I have qualified it as to why it would have helped?

    Interesting that you had no problem with his modding when you first came here.

    • Agree 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites



    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • google-news-icon.png



  • google-news-icon.png

  • Subscribe to Cheers & Gears

    Cheers and Gears Logo

    Since 2001 we've brought you real content and honest opinions, not AI-generated stuff with no feeling or opinions influenced by the manufacturers.

    Please consider subscribing. Subscriptions can be as little as $1.75 a month, and a paid subscription drops most ads.*
     

    You can view subscription options here.

    *a very limited number of ads contain special coupon deals for our members and will show

  • Similar Content

  • Posts

    • Just as Europe was to Music in the last few centuries, America topped Europe from the mid 1900's to now, but sadly in the last 4-5 ish years, I would say America has lost talent / folks worthy to listen to and Korea seems to be coming up strong. Yes, it was K-Pop with a few English words, now you have Black Pink, Aliee, Rain and others that are starting to really dominate the world of Music.  Lucky is that we still have the diversity of Music that the Asian Rim has not hit upon. PNW of course has contributed a number of types of Music such as Indie, Grunge, Alternative, Folk, Modern, Jazz, Rock, pretty impressive when you look at what has come from here: Music of the Pacific Northwest - Wikipedia Will be interesting to see how Music evolves over the coming years due to changes of society in North America due to repressive idiots.
    • Awesome  That sound like a rational option  I really think that America is a good place to eventually be from. That being said, I love American music. Music is Americas gift to the world. Of at least that much I am proud.
    • The Lyric has a weird back end, it is also too long for a 2 row SUV, and the wheels are too big, unless you get the base wheel.  The proportions are just off, the Vistiq and Optiq look a little more like traditional SUVs and I think if you want to sell EV's it needs to look like a traditional car and not some funky futuristic thing that is different for the sake of being different.  Also why Mercedes need to throw the EQ line in the trash which they are doing and they have an Electric G-wagon and their path to success is take the S-class body, the E-class body, etc and just drop it on the EV platform and call it a day.   Cadillac's ICE lineup outside of the Escalade isn't competitive at all, they can scrap all that crap and push to EV.    
    • I think Elon going full MAGA will probably drive away some of his former customers, plus there are so many other options coming on the market, and the Model Y is dated, although likely getting a refresh in 2025, but even the Model 3 is basically 7 years old, with just 1 refresh on it.    And if you take away the tax credit, Tesla prices basically go up 15-20%, that will cripple their sales.   GM just has to make sure they hit on build quality, and get the battery cost down, so that all these EV's at a least have no price increase in 2025 or 2026 as ICE cars keep getting more expensive so they can get some price parity.  And a sub-$30k Bolt could sell like hotcakes because the old one sold well despite being pretty below par for charge speed and battery tech. 
  • Who's Online (See full list)

  • My Clubs

×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search