Early Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon Demand Prompts Output Hike
GM’s dealers have taken 30,000 orders for the Colorado, a “very high” number at such an early stage, the automaker says.
General Motors will add a third shift and 750 jobs to its Wentzville, MO, assembly plant to meet early demand for the redesigned ’15 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickup trucks.
The move will bring employment at the 31-year-old facility, which also produces the Chevy Express and GMC Savana large vans, to 3,350 hourly and salaried workers.
Brisk, early demand for the new pickups drives the output increase. The automaker’s dealers have taken 30,000 orders for the Colorado, a “very high” number at such an early stage, GM says. The trucks arrive at dealers in October.
When the third shift comes online early next year, Wentzville will become one of GM’s more highly utilized operations in North America.
As demand for the large vans from commercial and government fleet customers has grown this year, 2-shift output of the Express and Savana has swelled 67% in the last three months to 34,750 units, according to WardsAuto data. Sales of those two products are up 21.8% through August to 79,318 copies.
GM has invested $513 million at Wentzville for the redesigned Colorado and Canyon, an outlay that included a third stamping press at the facility. The automaker expects the new versions of the trucks to strike a chord with buyers looking for the utility of a large pickup in a smaller, more maneuverable and fuel efficient package.
Before the old Colorado and Canyon went on a 1-year production hiatus last year, the pickups were built at a Shreveport, LA, assembly plant GM divested out of its 2009 bankruptcy.
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