General Motors to invest in Canada plants for expanding pickup production

General Motors will invest 1 billion Canadian dollars in its Canadian plants to expand production of highly profitable full-size pickup trucks to satisfy increasing demand, CEO Mary Barra said on Thursday.

The automaker’s plan, declared after it reached a tentative new labor agreement with Unifor – the union representing hourly employees in Canada – is to bring back the production of its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks to its Oshawa plant, Barra informed analysts.

The plant was conducting final assembly work on pickups that had been partially assembly at the automaker’s Fort Wayne, Indiana, plant.

Strong U.S. demand for pickups, among the automaker’s most profitable vehicles, helped the company report stronger-than-expected third-quarter revenues.

The automaker will also spend in its St. Catherine’s propulsion plant and the Woodstock parts operation.

“We have been operating our full-size pickup plants around the clock to meet exceptionally robust demand for the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra in the United States and Canada,” Barra said.

“The fact is we simply can’t build enough. And because we expect demand to remain strong, we must increase our capacity.”

GM expects construction to start on the new body shop and flexible assembly module at Oshawa right after the ratification of the Unifor deal, she said.

Unifor and GM Canada have announced they will resume auto assembly at the Oshawa GM plant in 2022