Posted on 11/22/2006 1:38:08 PM PST by kiriath_jearim
DETROIT -- The union president at the Saturn plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., said General Motors Corp. has decided not to build a new front-wheel-drive minivan there, leaving workers wondering whether they will have any vehicles to assemble in the future.
Company officials confirmed the minivan plans have been canceled, but said they had never made a decision on where it would have been built.
In a newsletter dated Tuesday, UAW Local 1853 President Mike O'Rourke said the GM board decided Thursday to cancel the new minivan, which he said was tentatively scheduled to be built at the Spring Hill assembly plant.
GM has not said what it would build at the plant outside Nashville, Tenn., after it stops building the Saturn Ion compact and the Saturn Vue sport utility vehicle there next year.
"We continue to review potential future product for the Spring Hill plant based on the competitiveness of the facility," GM spokesman Tom Wickham said. "But we've not finalized that review and we're not going to speculate about the type of product or the timing."
GM had planned to end production of the Ion in December, but decided to continue making the car at least through March because of demand created by high gas prices.
"We've not designated what the end production dates will be," Wickham said. "The Ion production will end sometime in the spring, and the Vue later."
O'Rourke said the next generation of Vue will be produced in Mexico, and Ion production has been canceled.
"We are now down to just four months left of production of that same little car we introduced to the world back in 1990, and the reality of facing an indefinite layoff with nothing tangible, nothing that we can place our hands on,
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Oh, cut the boilerplate corporate-speak, GM ... you're going to build the thing in Mexico.
Wonder what politics are behind this? Very interesting. Now, maybe Columbia, Spring Hill, Chapel Hill, and other surrounding areas will get some respite from the hyperinflated land and housing prices.
Yeah, those of us who live here are excited at that prospect! /s
Saturn is not the only industry out here by far. Maybe the new Nissan HQ will look at buying the plant and using it if GM shuts it down.
This time it's AL Gore's fault!
Sorry to sound ignorant, but when did the Saturn plant go union? I thought it was always non-union.
Saturn turned out some good cars about 10 years ago and the dealerships actually gave good service but in the last couple of years Saturn has gone the way of other GM Products.
Would like to buy American but my big gripe is that the Amercan Car dealerships offer very poor post sale support and service! They should take a lesson from Toyota or Honda.
The American Automakers in concert with the UAW will go the way of the Packard, Edsel, Sudebaker, etc...
Tell me about the differences. I'm curious to hear.
A friend of mine was along for the ride and my friend agreed that the Ion drove rough like a truck.
It also has "regenerative breaking" which made the car kind of wobble or tremble -- hard to explain but I've never had that feeling when driving any other model. It slows you down when you break a few times going down a hill, and the car seems to tremble under your feet. Very disconcerting.
Look at my tagline to see the vehicle I eventually bought.
Throughout the 90s, the basic model of Saturn virtually looked the same.
GM went with Saturn and dumped Oldsmobile. I bought an Olds every 2 years. They made the choice to dump Olds and I made the choice to move on to something other than GM.
I had a V6 81 Cutlass when I entered the workforce. A very medicore car.
GM has sucked eggs ever since the early seventies.
Dumping Olds was the dumbest move in GM's history. They should have dumped Boo-ick. After the gray-hairs die off, Boo-ick will be dead. Ever see anyone under 70 drive a Boo-ick?
Repent and be saved....... shun the sinful union and goodness will follow. Throw away the source of costly sin and be saved.
Figures. I own a Vue and an Ion and am happy with both.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.