CAMI Automotive Inc.'s Ingersoll, Ontario, assembly plant will continue producing the Chevy Tracker SUV, despite introduction of the all-new Chevy Equinox CUV in 2004.
“We are not here to announce the end of Tracker,” Michael Grimaldi, General Motors of Canada Inc. president, tells Ward's.
GM will spend C$500 million ($322 million) to prepare CAMI to build Equinox, which shares a platform with Saturn Vue. Grimaldi expects annual Equinox volume to total about 100,000 units, starting in '05.
Despite rumors, there are no plans at the 1,750-employee plant for an addition to CAMI, a joint venture between GM and Suzuki Motor Corp. Despite GM's claim, it's likely Tracker will go out of production once Equinox ramps up. Tracker isn't selling well now, and its odds won't improve once the new — and somewhat similar — Equinox hits the streets.
