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GM's Fairfax Plant to Switch to Three-Shift Working Schedule

Things are getting better for General Motors, as sales of both Buick LaCrosse and Chevrolet Malibu are going well in the United States. As a result, the former bankrupt manufacturer is now planning to boost capacity at the Fairfax assembly plant and establish a three-shift working schedule to align production with market demand.

The facility is currently building 4,500 cars per week but, thanks to the new schedule that will come into effect in two weeks, production will be increased to 6,300 units per week.

Leftlanenews.com writes that working in three shifts actually means that GM's assembly lines will be active for a total of 21.5 hours each day, up from 14.5 hours in two shifts.

The new Buick LaCrosse isn't a best-seller only in the US as the luxury sedan returned very high sales in overseas markets as well. In China, for instance, GM sold 20,500 LaCrosse sedans in China during August and September, as compared to about 7,000 during the same two-month period a year ago.

General Motors introduced the Buick LaCrosse in China at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show earlier this year. The car is offered with a choice of two engines: a 3.0-liter SIDI V6 engine as well as a 2.4-liter ECOTEC unit, both of them mated to a six-speed auto-manual transmission.

“The new LaCrosse is a big departure from anything we’ve seen before from Buick,” said earlier this year Michael Stapleton, Design Manager at GM’s Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) joint venture in Shanghai. “It really breathes elegance.”
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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