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GM cutting production at two plants

General Motors is continuing to adjust to excess supply of some of its brands' models. To get production more in line with the vehicles' actual demand, the automotive giant is idling two of its factories in North America in the coming months. The Orion Assembly plant is going to be down from March 9-13, according to an anonymous plant worker and another insider speaking to Automotive News. The factory builds the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano, but there are plenty of both models sitting on dealer lots, including 216 days worth of Sonics, according to AN. The factory already had two idle periods announced to reduce the excess. In addition, downtime is scheduled at GM's "Flex" line at the Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, plant from April 13-17. This affects supply of the Chevrolet Camaro, Impala, Buick Regal and Cadillac XTS. Among them, the automotive giant has the largest supply of Regals ready for dealers with 213 days worth of them, according to AN. The future for the whole Oshawa factory is cloudy in general, though. There are rumors that it could close entirely in the future because the Camaro is leaving and the Regal and XTS might not last much longer than 2017. The Canadian government and the labor union there intend to put up a fight, though. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GM orion assembly oshawa plant idle

GM to build $1.3 billion Cadillac plant in China

General Motors has gotten approval to build a $1.3 billion manufacturing facility for its Cadillac brand in China. China's National Development and Reform Commission signed off on plans for GM to build the plant in the country's Shanghai's Jinqiao zone; construction is expected to begin in June of this year. According to a Bloomberg report, the plant will have an annual production capacity of 150,000 units.
No surprise here, but Cadillac would like to sell a lot more cars in the plush Chinese luxury market. The brand moved only 30,010 cars in China last year, compared with 400k for Audi, and about 330k for BMW. With Cadillac already telling us that it would be moving production of its XTS sedan to China - a production decision that saves having to pay 25-percent import tariffs - approval of the factory is a critical win for the company.
In fact, according to earlier comments by GM China president Bob Socia, it's at least conceivable that Chinese-built Cadillacs could be shipped back to the US for sale. The brave new world of globalization, getting stranger by the minute.

Cadillac issues stop sale on ATS to recall 82k units

Cadillac is issuing a recall on 82,620 examples of the 2013-2016 ATS worldwide to fix a compliance issue with the sunroof controls. Until a service bulletin goes out to take care of things, there's also a stop sale on the luxury compact in the United States, The Detroit News reports. Of the affected models, 63,665 are in the US, according to a statement sent to Autoblog, and 7,922 of them are in Canada. The problem is actually the same issue as a recall on nearly 59,000 examples of the 2013-2015 ATS in the US in February. In them, the controls for the tilt and slide of the roof aren't recessed enough to meet government standards for the force necessary to operate the buttons. The Feds believe that someone could accidentally activate the auto-close and potentially be at risk. At the time, Cadillac dealers installed a new trim plate to add the needed clearance. In the latest update, the company is adding the 2016 model year, and according to The Detroit News, 70 percent of the cars from the original campaign also need another new trim plate. Unsurprisingly for such a minor defect, there are no known crashes, injuries, fatalities, or customer complaints related to this issue, according to the announcement by General Motors. Cadillac ATS Statement: General Motors is recalling 63,665 Cadillac ATS sedans in the United States from the 2013-2016 model years because the power-operated roof panel systems on these vehicles will auto-close when the non-recessed portion of the "Slide" or "Tilt" switches are pressed and the roof panel is open. Because these switches are not fully recessed, they can be actuated with less force than required to comply with applicable federal standards. GM knows of no crashes, injuries or fatalities related to this issue and has received no customer complaints. The total population of the recall including Canada, Mexico and exports is 82,620. Transport Canada Recall # 2015322 Recall Date 2015/07/21 Notification Type Compliance Mfr System Electrical Manufacturer Recall Number 15568 Units Affected The number of vehicles or components affected by the recall. 7,922 Category Car Recall Details Certain vehicles equipped with power-operated sunroof system may fail to conform to Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 118 - Power-Operated Window, Partition and Roof Panel Systems.