Chevy Camaro production to move to US
Chevy Camaro production is moving out of the Oshawa Car Assembly plant in Canada and into the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan, Ireson writes.
In this June 2011 file photo, a worker checks the paint on a Camaro at the GM factory in Oshawa, Ontario. General Motors says it will move production of the Camaro from its Oshawa operation in Ontario to a plant in Michigan.
Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press/AP/File
You might think the Chevy Camaro is one of the ultimate expressions of American motoring muscle--and you'd be correct, except for the fact that it has been built in Canada since its 2009 return to production.
That won't be the case with the sixth-generation Camaro, however, as production is moving out of the Oshawa Car Assembly plant in Canada and into the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan.
Reasons for the move, according to Chevrolet, are improved production efficiencies and lower capital investment, as the Camaro is the only rear-wheel drivevehicle currently built at Oshawa. The Lansing plant also builds the ATS and CTS, so adding the Camaro to it "consolidates the RWD assembly with the Cadillac CTS and ATS."
Except, of course, for the rear-wheel drive Corvette built in Bowling Green, and the company's various pickups, SUVs, and the upcoming SS, built at other GM plants. Might the "consolidation" GM is speaking of then refer not just to its rear-driveofferings, but to the Alpha platform the next Camaro is expected to be based on?
The Alpha platform currently underpins the Cadillac ATS, and a derivative of that platform is expected to be the basis for the next generation of the CTS, too. It's also expected to be the basis of the next Camaro. Scaling the platform to these different size and performance requirements is already underway, though GM engineers have been careful not to explicitly name the Camaro as one of the platform candidates.
Moving the Camaro's production to the current and future home of the Alpha platform is, to our eye, as good as a confirmation that it will share much of its technology and construction with the ATS and CTS--and that's great news for Camaro fans on either side of the border.