News From the Auto Industry

Citing a GM spokesman, the Journal said a plant in New Jersey, where the company produces the Chevrolet Blazer, Chevy S-10 and GMC Sonoma pickup models, will keep running until summer of 2005. Production at the facility was expected to wrap up in the third quarter of 2004. GM will also keep production of a Baltimore plant, where it makes Chevrolet Astro and GMC Safari minivan models, until the summer of 2005. The plant’s run was expected to have ended in the third quarter of 2003.

It is a vehicle that was created by a new way of work. One that truly leveraged value-adding brainpower. One that may be indicative of the way things are going to be done at GM. There is enthusiasm evinced by the engineers and the manufacturing people and the marketing people and all others associated with the H2. Which is completely understandable (more about that in a moment). In some regards, the HUMMER is an automotive icon in the sense that the Corvette is. And what automotive engineer wouldn’t want to work on something like that? Cowger said that he is seeing more enthusiasm within GM’s ranks today than he has ever seen before. But even among the engineers who are working on the bread-and-butter vehicles, not just comparatively niche vehicles like the H2? (This is niche because the plant capacity is 40,000 on two shifts–even the Corvette plant puts out more units.) “Absolutely,” Cowger responds. “We have some ways to go with some of the products. But we’re getting there.”

The company said its products are on over 90 percent of all vehicles produced in North America.