Saturn Spring Hill Factory To Close

Laz wrote:

>>What GM didn't say today is anything about Korea and China. I think
>>that they are quitely planning to ramp up production for export in one
>>or both of them but are keeping it out of the press.
>>
>>John
>
>
> Thanx John, just what I need, a Chinese Saturn.....
>
>
> Laz
>

I'm not saying I like the idea, but just that it seems likely at some
point. Almost anything can be made much more cheaply in Asia than it
can be in the US, and the majority of buyers are not willing to pay more
for US built anything.

John

> The "L" was built in Delaware. The new minivan comes from the same
> factory as other GM minivans. The Vue could shift to the Ontario plant
> alongside the Equinox. The Sky could be built allow with the Solstice
> in Delaware.
>
> My guess is that the Ion will be replaced with something from Korea or
> China by the time the 2008 models role out. GM said that one production
> line is staying open in Spring Hill, which is a bit confusing. Maybe
> that is the new Sky line.
>
> What GM didn't say today is anything about Korea and China. I think
> that they are quitely planning to ramp up production for export in one
> or both of them but are keeping it out of the press.
>
> John

I thought ION production was moving to the Cobalt plant in Lordstown Ohio.
I'm not sure if the ION is already on the same frame as the Cobalt or if the
ION will be redesigned to be on the Cobalt frame. That plant has the
capacity for something like 350,000 cars a year, more than all the Cobalts
and IONs currently being made, and that's not listed as one that's closing.

Of course one way to increase sales of Cobalts and IONs would be TO PRODUCE
A WAGON VERSION !!!!!!!
HINT FREAKING HINT ! ! !
Maybe a cheaper (maybe slightly smaller) version of the Pontiac Vibe.
Something that's in the mid 30s in gas mileage rather than the mid 20s.
ron
94 SL1 119,000 miles

John Horner wrote:

> I'm not saying I like the idea, but just that it seems likely at some
> point. Almost anything can be made much more cheaply in Asia than it
> can be in the US, and the majority of buyers are not willing to pay more
> for US built anything.

This is not true, especially when it comes to vehicles. If it was,
Toyota and Honda would have built all their North American factories in
Mexico, rather than in the U.S., or would have moved all of their Asian
factories to Thailand or Vietnam. It it was true, then GM and Ford would
likely have gone out of the car business already (yes, CAFE rules would
probably have kept them in it to a degree).

Because the domestic content laws are so convoluted, the only sensible
thing to do when "buying American" is to look at the final assembly
location. Looking at the source of major components is misleading,
because non-U.S. components can be included in the U.S. content for
components.

SMS wrote:
> John Horner wrote:
>
>> I'm not saying I like the idea, but just that it seems likely at some
>> point. Almost anything can be made much more cheaply in Asia than it
>> can be in the US, and the majority of buyers are not willing to pay
>> more for US built anything.
>
>
> This is not true, especially when it comes to vehicles.

The transplant factories in the US are being built for political
reasons, not for cost reasons.

John

We owned and enjoyed 1992 and 2000 SL-1's.
Good cars, simple and reliable; no complaints.

But Saturn as we know it is done.
Sad to them go...

Christopher Platt
New York

<<production of the ION will be moved to OH at the end of '06. That
means that '07 model year IONs may be the last polymer panel IONs.>>

Why can't they do polymer panels in Ohio too?

John Cowart

John Horner wrote:

> The transplant factories in the US are being built for political
> reasons, not for cost reasons.

It's partly political, but it's also for marketing. It is cheaper to
build in the U.S. than in Japan, and it shields the companies from
currency fluctations, but it's even cheaper to build in Mexico or
Brazil. The companies with the transplant factories in the U.S. make a
very big deal of the fact that they are manufacturing in the U.S., with
good reason.

In my area, we're all much happier that Toyotas are being built in the
NUMMI factory, which was a closed GM factory, than we are that the
nearby Milpitas Ford factory was turned into a giant shopping mall, with
a Ford Fairlane under glass, in a corner of the mall.

Toyota is expanding in the U.S., and with their Subaru investment they
will likely revitalize Subaru and need more capacity for that line as
well. Hopefully they'll take some of the GM factories, like they saved
Fremont.

bo peep wrote:
> <<production of the ION will be moved to OH at the end of '06. That
> means that '07 model year IONs may be the last polymer panel IONs.>>
>
> Why can't they do polymer panels in Ohio too?

They could, but it adds a lot to the manufacturing cost to do polymer
panels. It's unlikely that polymer panels are going to continue.

bo peep wrote:
> <<production of the ION will be moved to OH at the end of '06. That
> means that '07 model year IONs may be the last polymer panel IONs.>>
>
> Why can't they do polymer panels in Ohio too?
>
> John Cowart
>


GM has been playing around with polymer panels for years. Remember the
Pontiac Fiero? How about the first generation GM minivans. Both used
some plastic panels. Plastic panels create at least as many problems as
they solve. Furthermore, plastic resin costs have gone sky high as
natural gas and oil prices have gone up. Even Rubbermaid is on a full
court press to make and sell more steel trinkets instead of the plastic
they are known for in order to improve profitability.

Polymer panels will surely be phased out of future Saturn models. It
was a dumb gimmick to start with.

John

On Sat, 26 Nov 2005 07:29:37 +0000, John Horner took a five-minute break
from flipping burgers to boot the etch-a-sketch and scribble out:

> bo peep wrote:
>> <<production of the ION will be moved to OH at the end of '06. That
>> means that '07 model year IONs may be the last polymer panel IONs.>>
>>
>> Why can't they do polymer panels in Ohio too?
>>
>> John Cowart
>>
>
>
> GM has been playing around with polymer panels for years. Remember the
> Pontiac Fiero? How about the first generation GM minivans. Both used
> some plastic panels. Plastic panels create at least as many problems as
> they solve. Furthermore, plastic resin costs have gone sky high as
> natural gas and oil prices have gone up. Even Rubbermaid is on a full
> court press to make and sell more steel trinkets instead of the plastic
> they are known for in order to improve profitability.
>
> Polymer panels will surely be phased out of future Saturn models. It
> was a dumb gimmick to start with.

Why? I actually think they're cool. It is one of the reasons I bought my
wife's car.

Oh, and the Fiero is one of the coolest cars out of GM in the past thirty
years. Especially the GT. Right up there with the long gone Impala.



--
kai
www.perfectreign.com

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