GM Invests Less at Truck Plants, Reaps More on CAD

CAREFREE, AZ – General Motors Corp. spent significantly less money in retooling plants to produce its new-generation fullsize pickups by putting more time into computer-aided modeling, executives say.

Gary White, vehicle line executive-fullsize trucks, declines to estimate the total investment at the five plants sharing production of the light-duty ’07 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups. But he says GM kept costs at bay in the handoff from the GMT800 platform to the new ...