Official: Michigan Orion to Build GM Small Car in 2011

As we reported yesterday, increasing rumors were saying that GM is getting close to designate its Orion Township, Michigan plant as the one to build the company's future small car. GM has now confirmed that is the case in a move which they say will "restore approximately 1,400 jobs in total - 1,200 at Orion Assembly and 200 at Pontiac Metal Center, Building no 14."

“Small cars represent one of the fastest-growing segments in both the U.S. and around the world,” Troy Clarke, General Motors North America president said in a release.

"GM will be the only automaker, foreign or domestic, to build small cars in the US, and we believe Orion Assembly and Pontiac Stamping are well suited to deliver a high-quality, fuel-efficient car that competes with anything in the marketplace.”

GM plans to build no less than 160,000 small and compact vehicles a year at the aforementioned facility. To that end, the plant will be retooled, while GM expects the work schedule to be comprised of two shifts.

The move does not save the plant though from being idled in September, as initially planned. GM has not yet established the date when retooling will begin, as the project is "still under study." Still the manufacturer hopes "prep work would begin in late 2010 in anticipation of the start of production in 2011."

“This is great news for our members at UAW Local 5960, Oakland County, and the State of Michigan, and shows the world the UAW can compete in the most competitive segment of the automotive industry,” Cal Rapson, UAW Vice President added.