General Motors Delaware Underway with $50 Million Retooling

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) (Detroit, Michigan), the world's largest vehicle manufacturer, is currently underway on a $50 Million retooling of their Wilmington, Delaware plant for a new production line to produce the new Saturn sports car, the Pontiac Solstice. The plant is located at 801 Boxwood Road in New Castle County (Plant 1029226).

General Motors announced their intention to cease production of the Saturn L-Series in July, and not have a production model until the new Pontiac Solstice begins in April 2005. A new Saturn sports car will be produced at the Boxwood Plant starting in early 2006. These announcements followed the GM announcement to halt production of Saturn midsize cars for four weeks starting on March 8, 2004 because of poor sales. The plant has been idled for six weeks this year and two months last year to reduce output of the L-Series cars.

The plant has already begun the retooling work on the body shop, paint shop, and final assembly areas in February 2004, with equipment installations anticipated in the next couple of months, most of the work being done in-house. GM will begin producing a Saturn sports car, the Pontiac Solstice roadster, at the plant in early 2006 using GM’s Kappa platform. The Solstice will be powered by a 170 horsepower, 2.4-liter "Ecotec" four-cylinder engine and will be the first vehicle built on the Kappa vehicle underpinnings to reach showrooms. GM also plans to roll out two examples of possible future vehicles built on the Kappa platform - the Chevrolet Nomad and the Saturn Curve concept cars.

The foundation for all these new vehicles, Kappa, lies in a new cost-effective rear-wheel-drive vehicle architecture that took a mere twenty-seven months to develop. The basis of development came from the need to maintain the aggressive stance of the Pontiac Solstice concept, in which GM joined its global design partners in Great Britain and developed a chassis that would sustain the short overhangs, long wheelbase, and wide stance of the Solstice. Successful completion of this new platform allowed GM to announce the unveiling of the 2006 Pontiac Solstice Roadster, which is expected in dealer showrooms in the fall 2005. In addition to the robust chassis architecture and suspension components, Kappa engineers sweated dynamic details to produce a world-class platform which includes: near 50/50 weight distribution for a balanced handling feel, hydraulic engine mounts to provide a smoother engine feel, optimized acoustic barrier and sound adsorption package to provide world-class levels of interior quietness, exterior components, such as mirrors, wind-tunnel tested to minimize wind noise, and tires selected for handling performance and low noise.

General Motors Corporation, founded in 1908, has been the global automotive sales leader since 1931. GM currently employs over 341,000 people globally in its core automotive business and subsidiaries and has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in more than 190 countries. GM remains to be the world's #1 maker of cars and trucks, with brands such as Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Oldsmobile (which is being discontinued) and also produces cars through its Holden, Opel and Vauxhall units. Other operations include Allison Transmission (heavy-duty automatic transmissions), and GM Locomotive (locomotives, diesel engines). GM also has stakes in Isuzu Motors, Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru), Suzuki Motor, Fiat (Alfa Romeo, Lancia), and GM Daewoo Auto & Technology. GMAC, GM's Subsidiary, provides financing.