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General Motors Canada

Type	Wholly-owned subsidiary
Founded	1918
Headquarters	Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Industry	Automotive
Products	Automobiles Engines
Parent	General Motors
Website	www.gmcanada.com

General Motors of Canada Limited (GM Canada) is the name of General Motors' Canadian division. The national headquarters office, their Canadian Regional Engineering Centre, and the main manufacturing plants are located in Oshawa, Ontario.

[edit] History

Founded in 1918, GM Canada was formed by the purchase of the McLaughlin Motor Car Co., manufacturer since 1907 of the McLaughlin automobile based on the Buick Model F, Canadianized with a McLaughlin carriage as its body. From 1910 onward, the cars were well-known across Canada as McLaughlin-Buicks and prominently identified as such, in recognition of their Buick heritage. Prior to becoming GM Canada, McLaughlin had acquired the approval of William C. Durant, then owner of the Chevrolet Motor Co. and preceding its entry into the GM product line, to produce Chevrolet automobiles in Canada.

GM has historically been one of the largest and most powerful corporations in Canada, and in 1975 it was listed as the third "largest".^[1]

General Motors Canada opened its new head office building on the shore of Lake Ontario in 1989. It is a fixture on Highway 401 and usually displays an enormous picture of a new vehicle on the outside of its huge atrium.

GM's Canadian Regional Engineering Centre opened in June, 2001. It is primarily responsible for managing the design and validation of vehicles which are manufactured in Canada, though it supports many joint development efforts with GM operations in other countries.

The manufacturing plants located in Oshawa produce the Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Allure (rebadged as the LaCrosse for the U.S. market) as well as the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks. The three plants have continually garnered top quality ratings by J.D. Power.^[2] In 2008, the car plant is scheduled to begin production of the new Chevrolet Camaro.^[3] The Oshawa facility was ranked number 1 facility in overall quality in North and South America by J.D. Power and Associates.^{[citation needed]}

General Motors Canada announced a naming rights deal for the General Motors Centre on October 5, 2006. The centre's main tenants will be the Oshawa Generals Junior hockey team, who were named for the corporation in 1937.

[edit] 2008 Canadian Auto Workers bargaining

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (June 2008)

In an unusual move, General Motors and the Canadian Auto Workers union reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining contract on May 15, 2008, a full four months before the existing contract was due to expire. As part of the agreement, GM pledged to maintain production at the Oshawa, Ontario pickup truck plant and made other production commitments.

On June 3, 2008, less than three weeks after ratification of the new contract, GM announced that, due to soaring gasoline prices and plummeting truck sales, it would close four additional truck and SUV plants, including the Oshawa pickup plant.^[4]

In response, the CAW organized a blockade of the GM of Canada headquarters in Oshawa. The blockade was ended by an Ontario Superior Court order, after 12 days. Further discussions between GM and the CAW resulted in an agreement to compensate workers at the truck plant and additional product commitments for the Oshawa car assembly plant.^[5]

[edit] Canadian factories

• CAMI Automotive - Joint venture with Suzuki Motors, located in Ingersoll, Ontario 1989-present
• Oshawa Car Assembly 1950s-present
• Oshawa Truck Assembly - 1965-present; pick-up truck manufacturing facilitiy scheduled to close 2009
• Oshawa Metal 1986-present
• Windsor Transmission 1963-2010
• St. Catharines Engine/Transmission 1954-2008
• St. Catharines Components

Former plants:

• Scarborough Van Assembly (1963-1993)
• Sainte Therese Assembly (1966-2002)
• Diesel Division of GM Canada Saint-Eustache, Quebec bus plant (closed 1987)
• Diesel Division of GM Canada London, Ontario locomotive and military plant (sold to General Dynamics)

[edit] Models currently made in Canada

• Buick Allure and Buick LaCrosse
• Chevrolet Equinox
• Chevrolet Impala
• Chevrolet Monte Carlo
• Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra
• Pontiac Grand Prix
• Pontiac Montana SV6
• Pontiac Torrent

[edit] See also

• General Motors
• Oshawa - Detailed history of the early years of GM in Canada.
• Samuel McLaughlin - The first President of GM Canada
• Final Offer - documentary film that shows the 1984 contract negotiations
• Foreign ownership of companies of Canada
• Canadian Military Pattern truck - An important part of GM Canada's contribution to the war effort in World War II

[edit] References

• GMC to add minivan, GM to discontinue others.
• J.D. Power website

[edit] External links

• GM Canada website
• Timeline of General Motors of Canada history