GM Shuts Down Volt Plant to Prepare for Increased Production, New Malibu

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General Motors plans to temporarily shut down its Detroit-Hamtramck plant for four weeks, starting in June, to prepare for increased production of the Chevrolet Volt and the export version, the Opel Ampera. They also plan to reconfigure the plant to build the upcoming 2013 Chevy Malibu.
Planned upgrades to the plant include installing new tools, equipment and overhead conveyer systems which all add up to increased production of the Volt and Ampera. After the plant reopens GM will still be working on changes for the upcoming production of the 2013 Malibu.

The planned closure will temporarily reduce the already limited supply of Volts on dealer lots over the next three months, but it is expected to increase the supply to fulfill the demand long-term. The Volt has only been available in California, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C. at this time.

When production resumes “The Volt will be available to customers nationwide by the end of 2011,” said Cristi Landy, director of Chevrolet Volt Marketing. “By taking the time to reconfigure the plant, we will be better able to meet the tremendous consumer demand.”

GM will begin exporting the Volt and Ampera to Europe and China once the plant is back online with increased production. GM expects a production capacity of 16,000 cars including exports and demo cars for U.S. dealers. By 2012 GM expects global production to be at 60,000 with three-fourths of those sold right here in the U.S.

Production of the new 2013 Malibu will begin next year once all of the upgrades have been completed. The Detroit-Hamtramck plant is ramping down production of the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne after discontinuing the manufacture of the Northstar engine. The DTS and Lucerne are the only remaining GM products that still use the once state-of-the-art engine. The Northstar was first introduced in the 1993 Cadillac Allanté convertible, and was subsequently offered in many Cadillac car models.