Oh look, another Alpha thread.

[Mr. Wyndham]

As you can see, though...and maybe something to keep in mind - Zeta's very much still alive. This isn't a 'replacement' platform. Zeta is Mid-Large sized, and Alpha is Small-Mid midsized.

[Scotsman]

Originally Posted by TAG UR IT

Less weight...more veh's moving over. Can't wait to see what will officially be moved over there.

More "veh's" moving over???

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

As you can see, though...and maybe something to keep in mind - Zeta's very much still alive. This isn't a 'replacement' platform. Zeta is Mid-Large sized, and Alpha is Small-Mid midsized.

Yes, that is correct. As this is a contract that means all these cars are LOCKED in. Otherwise trouble for GM and UAW, not something that benefits either situationally nor financially.

[TAG UR IT]

-pg. 61 says not 1 but "2 styles" off of Zeta will be allocated to Lansing production. Interesting because we know both the Camaro and G8 will not be built there

.

My bad. I read it wrong. And...yes, I know you had it in bold. But, I read it that way and thought of other possibilites....

[Scotsman]

More Alpha...

Union document shows GM plans to build a compact rear-drive car from 2011

By TERRY MARTIN 2 October 2007

THE chances of Holden resurrecting the Torana nameplate in Australia with a new rear-wheel drive compact car increased dramatically last week when United Auto Workers (UAW) officials in the US disclosed future model plans for General Motors.

The revelations, which include other Holden-engineered cars, emerged in a tentative contract agreement the union had won after earlier in the week staging a crippling two-day strike at GM facilities across the nation over issues including job security, wages and entitlements and investment in US facilities and vehicles.

The contract highlights included a pledge from GM to invest in future vehicles for 16 assembly plants in the US.

Among these vehicles is the global RWD compact, which GoAuto understands will come off the all-new Holden-developed platform architecture known as “Alpha”, and two new models based on the Holden-engineered “Zeta” platform, which underpins the VE Commodore, Pontiac G8 and the forthcoming Chevrolet Camaro.

The deal also revealed that GM plans to put the Chevrolet Volt electric hybrid car into production in 2010.

According to the UAW document, the RWD compact (assembled in Ohio) and the new Zeta-based medium-large cars (assembled in Michigan) will be produced in two bodystyles each from 2011.

No GM brands were specified, however the small car is tipped to be either a Pontiac – which GM is transforming as its “affordable” RWD brand – or Cadillac, which GM product czar Bob Lutz referred to 12 months ago when he first floated the idea of a BMW 1 Series rival.

As GoAuto reported earlier this year, “Alpha” is also expected to underpin the replacement for Cadillac’s BLS small luxury sedan.

At least one overseas report this week indicated that the Zeta-based vehicles referred to in the UAW-GM tentative contact agreement are likely to be full-size cars for Cadillac and Buick. The second bodystyle could well be a utility.

GM Holden engineering director Tony Hyde indicated to GoAuto at last year’s Sydney motor show that the 2004 Torana TT36 concept could still be alive, and did not rule out the possibility that Holden could engineer and build a small RWD model for global markets.

“It would be no different from Mercedes-Benz building one of its models for the whole world in South Africa,” he said.

The fact that former Holden chairman Denny Mooney now has global responsibility for GM’s vehicle systems and integration also bodes well for a Torana comeback.

“Believe me, I will always have a finger in what’s going on here,” Mr Mooney said in May, just prior to his departure.

“There are still ... numerous other vehicles being considered to come off the global rear-wheel drive architecture. None of that has changed.”

Other models on the “Product Commitments at GM Assembly Facilities” list include a switch for the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 from the current Delta front-wheel drive compact platform to the cheaper and newer Gamma platform. A global seven-seat compact van/MPV, possibly a version of the Opel Zafira, will also be built in the US from 2009.

While most of these products paint a picture of the world’s biggest car-maker becoming sensitive and new-age, the timetable also has GM committing to various new-generation pickup trucks early next decade.

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...257368000ECFC0

[Scotsman]

GM moves new Chevy model to Lordstown
By Don Shilling (Contact)

Saturday, May 31, 2008


By Don Shilling

A new contract is expected to secure Lordstown’s future for 10 to 15 years.

LORDSTOWN — General Motors is ready to give its Lordstown complex a new small car that gets nearly 40 mpg, a union leader said.

“We’re going to have longevity. This car’s going to sell,” Jim Graham, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, said at a news conference Friday about a new labor contract.

Graham didn’t provide any other details about a new model, but an industry analyst said it would be the new version of the Chevrolet Aveo, which is now made in South Korea.

Erich Merkle, an analyst with IRN in Grand Rapids, Mich., said GM plans to begin making the new model in Lordstown in 2010, to be followed by a new rear-wheel drive, mid-size model in early 2011.
He said substantial work will need to be done to the Lordstown complex to prepare for the new models.

Graham said such work will begin if workers ratify a tentative agreement on the labor contract.

“You are going to start seeing things move very rapidly toward a new product,” he said.

The plant produces the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5. GM recently tweaked some Cobalt models with manual transmission to boost highway fuel economy from 33 mpg to 36 mpg. The Aveo with a manual transmission is rated at 34 mpg.

Cobalt production began in 2004 after a $1 billion renovation of the complex. The biggest item was a new paint shop that cost several hundred million dollars.

GM’s commitment to the complex was in doubt for years before that overhaul and has been questioned again recently.

A new local labor contract, however, would secure Lordstown’s future for two or three product cycles, said Ben Strickland, Local 1112 shop chairman.

“We’re hoping not to go through these arguments for another 10 or 15 years,” he said.

Despite GM’s interest in Lordstown, it still is increasing small-car production in Mexico, Merkle said. The Cobalt will be moved there because GM wants a high-production model in a new plant it is building, he said. He added that the Saturn Astra, which now is made in Europe, also will be moved to Mexico.

Lordstown workers will vote Monday and Tuesday on the tentative agreement, which was reached Wednesday. The contract would expire in 2011.

Strickland declined to release any details in advance of informational meetings for members Saturday.

A flier issued to members Friday listed some details, such as no consolidation of skilled trades job classifications. Industry analysts have said that GM has been looking to cut costs by having skilled trades workers train for additional jobs.

The flier said an alternative work schedule for production workers could be implemented no sooner than the summer of 2010 and only for a trial period of 90 days. It didn’t describe the schedule.

Strickland declined to discuss reports that GM is considering adding a third shift to the complex. GM eliminated the midnight shift in 2006 after 1,600 Lordstown workers left the company with buyout offers.

In a follow-up buyout offer made this year, 375 workers at the assembly plant and 175 workers at the fabricating plant agreed to leave July 1, Strickland said. The complex has about 3,400 hourly workers.

Strickland said he expects GM to replace these workers with new hires and by transferring workers from other plants.

A national labor contract signed last year provides that new workers who are hired into non-production roles, such as janitorial or landscaping, would be paid about half what existing workers receive. Strickland said 393 jobs in the assembly plant have been identified as falling into that category.

Local 1714, which represents workers at the fabricating plant, already has approved a new local agreement.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/may/3...rdstown/?print

[stovt001]

Congrats to Lordstown on getting some pretty cool products.