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GM Actually Building Subcompact On U.S. Soil

The New York Times, Wednesday, July 13, 2011 10 AM

General Motors' new production facility in Detroit is designed with cost savings in mind -- it's half the size of a traditional plant -- to make subcompact cars. Because such cars are so cheap and profits so slim, it hadn't made sense to build them here. General Motors is hoping to change that with the new Chevrolet Sonic.

The car, with a base price of around $14,000, is the automaker's new entry in a region of the market for which it had supplied the Korea-made Aveo until now. The Sonic, going on sale this fall, is also expected to be a breakthrough in establishing a new level of cooperation between Detroit and the UAW.

The radically revamped factory here operates with fewer and cheaper workers, many of whom are paid $14 an hour rather than the full UAW. wage of $28 an hour.

Read the whole story at The New York Times »

automotive

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