World GM to bring pickups production back to Canada

General Motors announced Thursday a deal with the Canadian auto workers' union to bring back to this country production of pickups to meet rising demand in North America.

© Lars Hagberg GM says it will bring back production of pickups at its Oshawa, Ontario assembly plant, which had been closed in December 2019. Hundreds of Silverado pickups assembled at the plant are seen here in November 2018 outside the facility

GM said it will hire up to 1,700 workers and spend more than Can$1 billion (US$767 million) to retool the Oshawa, Ontario plant, which closed last year, to assemble its "new family of pickup trucks."

The Boating Trip Perfect for Leaf Peepers

There she stood, across the canal from our houseboat, a sugar maple with leaves in shades of gold, orange, red and green. She gracefully submitted to endless admirers. Amorous couples who locked lips under her brilliant fall canopy. People who used her as a backdrop for their “grams.” Kids who rolled around in her fallen leaves. A woman in a sparkly, body-hugging gown. And me, at the start of a leaf peeping journey out of Ottawa, the Canadian capital. © Provided by The Daily Beast Jennifer Bain She is a sugar maple, a lover of full sun and deep, rich soil.

GM 's production in Mexico and Canada during the 3-week-old UAW strike represents one of the union's biggest problems with the automaker: outsourcing. The only North American assembly plants still operating for the Detroit automaker are the CAMI Assembly plant in Canada and two facilities in

GM Canada didn't say how long the employees would be furloughed. It attributed the cuts to the UAW strike in the U.S., saying the Canadian plants have to reduce their production of GM pickup trucks by half since they can't get the components needed from the U.S. plants, which are currently shut down.

Production is expected to begin in January 2022, GM said.

"We will move very quickly," GM chief executive Mary Barra told a conference call. "We expect construction to begin on the new body shop and flexible assembly module at Oshawa immediately upon ratification.

"When the plant comes back online in early 2022, we will see a significant increase in our full-size pickup production capacity."

The tentative agreement must still be ratified by workers, but the union, Unifor, is recommending its union members do so.

GM also said it would spend Can$109 million to boost engine and transmission production at its St. Catharines, Ontario propulsion plant and its parts distribution warehouse in nearby Woodstock.

The real pirates of the Caribbean

The success of the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie series and Johnny Depp's turn as the eccentric swashbuckler "Captain" Jack Sparrow has captured the public's imagination. But who were the real pirates of the Caribbean and others like them who plundered and looted their way across the high seas? Browse the gallery for skulls, crossbones, and a chance to unearth your very own pot of treasure. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC by 2.0)

General Motors ( GM ) plans to halt production at five factories in North America and cut more than The production cuts come as buyers in North America have turned away from smaller cars to bigger I said well get a car that is selling well and put it back in." Labour unions in the US and Canada also

GM isn’t alone in thinking Rivian has the right stuff. Amazon is also in talks with the fledgling automaker, sources say. The combined investments, if made, would see Rivian valued somewhere between billion to billion, with GM and Amazon holding minority stakes in the company. What’s in it for GM ?

The announcement caps a round of negotiations with the big three Detroit-based automakers that secured new investments also from Ford and Fiat Chrysler to boost auto production in Canada.

Ford said it would build battery-electric vehicles in Oakville, Ontario while Fiat Chrysler pledged more than Can$1 billion to retool its Windsor, Ontario plant to make hybrid and plug-in vehicles.

GM's Oshawa plant used to make the Chevrolet Impala and the Cadillac XTS, as well as Silverado pickup trucks.

Production began in 1953 and at its peak in the 1980s, the plant employed roughly 23,000 people.

Its closure in December 2019 as part of a GM global restructuring had put out of work 2,500 Canadians.

amc/dw