GM to produce new Camaro in Canada

I spotted this article over at Stamping out a Living. It’s good news for North America and Canada in particular, thet GM are to make the Camaro near Toronto.

General Motors Corp. will make the new Chevrolet Camaro at one of its plants in Oshawa, just east of Toronto, the company said Monday.
GM executives, senior government officials and union leaders made the announcement at the No. 2 plant, where about 2,700 jobs are expected to be saved by the return of GM’s iconic muscle car.
GM said it will invest hundreds of millions of dollars to turn the plant into a more flexible operation.
The move came after the Canadian Auto Workers agreed to 2,500 early retirements to reduce costs at the plant and win the job of making the new car. The plant had been scheduled to close in 2008.
The automaker plans to put new Camaros in dealer showrooms by 2009.
GM, which stopped making an earlier version of the Camaro at its operations near Montreal in 2002, hopes its return will attract younger buyers and appeal to its traditional customers.
The three GM vehicle plants in Oshawa employ slightly fewer than 12,000 workers. source Detroit Free Press

The positive economic impact of a car plant to any region is very significant. The obvious benefit to steel companies and component manufacturers is only a small part of the wider “ripple” effect upon local businesses and services. I hope that here in the UK we have a positive outcome to the rumours that Ford is looking again to sell Jaguar. The sale had been linked with Hyundai, but more recent reports suggest that Hyundai “ain’t buying”. More on the Jaguar story here