Tag: GM

General Motors Announces $40 Million Investment In Pontiac Stamping Plant

GM is hoping to make custom, precise stamping easier with a new $40 million investment in its Pontiac Stamping Plant.

The money will go to renovating the facility as well as installing new, highly flexible fabrication machinery and presses. These will help support future production of EVs and will allow the plant to serve a range of product applications, the company said in a statement.

Renovation work is beginning immediately and GM says it anticipates that the UAW-represented plant will gain 20 new positions as a result of the investment. The 1.25 million sq ft facility currently has 191 hourly employees and 31 salaried staff.

Read Also: GM Is Asking Biden For Electric Vehicle Tax Incentives Again

The new machinery being installed will feature “Flex Fab” metal fabrication technology. That, GM says, allows for custom stamping, which reduces costs for low-volume applications. It also means that the machines can switch to producing new products without requiring any additional investment in new stampings.

“This investment will bring the latest in flexible sheet metal fabrication technology to the Pontiac team,” said Phil Kienle, GM vice president of North America Manufacturing and Labor Relations. “Our manufacturing capabilities create a competitive advantage for GM, and I am confident the team at Pontiac Stamping will continue delivering excellence in all areas of the business as they deploy this new equipment.”

The plant has been in use since 1926 as part of the Oakland Motor Car Company before being bought by Pontiac in 1932 and currently produces parts for the Bolt EV, the Bolt EUV, the Hummer EV, and GM’s full-size SUV line.

Its most recent investment came in 2015 when $124 million was invested in tooling and equipment to enhance its manufacturing capabilities.

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Someone Scored A Bargain With This ’99 Oldsmobile Silhouette OSV Concept

Six Recaro bucket seats? Check. Brembo brakes with beefy drilled rotors? Check. Candy apple red paint? Check. The Cadillac of minivans (see movie reference below)? Somebody get Danny Devito the keys!

Recently, someone scooped up a piece of GM history: the Oldsmobile Silhouette OSV concept that somehow found its way to Empire Motors in Kelowna, B.C. Canada.

According to the Autotrader listing that has now been removed, just a few days after we discovered it, the concept was priced at just $8,588.

The Dustbuster days

Besides a minor role in the 1995 mafioso comedy ‘Get Shorty’, the Oldsmobile Silhouette was never known for its cool factor. First introduced as one of GMs “Dustbuster” vans back in 1990, the Silhouette was more likely to be found in an airport rental parking lot than a kids bedroom poster.

Read Also: The Last Oldsmobile Is Being Auctioned Off In New York Tomorrow

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The Silhouette (and its GM siblings) received a total redesign for 1997, with Oldsmobile discontinuing short-wheelbase models after 1999. This didn’t earn the van any street cred, but it helped to distance the Silhouette from its badge-engineered brothers.

Olds going out with a bang

By 1999 the folks at Oldsmobile could see the writing on the wall; the 102-year-old carmaker would announce its demise by the following December. Somehow the GM bean counters let this one slip through the cracks as Oldsmobile readied a line of concepts for the annual SEMA show in Las Vegas. It was one last hurrah before the brand officially closed shop in 2004.

The 1999 Oldsmobile Silhouette OSV concept as seen in GM’s promotional press material

Oldsmobile Specialty Vehicles (OSV) readied three concepts based on the Alero coupe, Intrigue Sedan and, surprisingly, the Silhouette minivan. The Alero and Intrigue were fairly attractive cars in their day, made even more so by all the OSV enhanced visuals cues. Blown motors and raspy exhausts made sure there was no confusing the OSVs with your father’s Oldsmobile.

The Silhouette received all the visual cues like its stablemates, but sadly no blower – all the 3.4 liter V6 got was an upgraded intake and exhaust system with the same semi-oval tips as the Alero and Intrigue. It also featured chrome wheels wrapped in sticky rubber with big Brembo brakes, which meant there would be functional improvements as well; after all, they had to make sure it could handle all 215 ponies. Show-stopping paint, ground effects, and a two-tone Recaro laden interior helped bring it all together.

Like most concept cars, the OSV cars went away into storage, never to see the light of day, save for a couple of future events and shows. Nevertheless, the OSV cars have popped up for sale from time to time, but this Silhouette is actually road legal.

PHOTO GALLERY

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