GM Build More Heavy-Duty Pickups

In order to meet customer demand at the request of a heavy-duty pickup truck that was used to tow, haul and plow, General Motor plans to add a third shift at Flint Assembly, generating 750 jobs for the plant that makes the award-winning Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickups.

This plan announced at detroit yesterday, the shift is expected to start in the third quarter with employees starting to arrive at Flint Assembly in the second quarter. Flint Assembly currently employs nearly 2,100 hourly and salaried employees and operates two production shifts.

In 2010 the plant produced 115,000 trucks, the majority of them regular and crew-cab versions of the heavy-duty Silverado and Sierra. Last year, the plant added production of regular and crew-cab version of the light-duty Silverado.

GM’s new heavy-duty trucks have demonstrated since their release last summer that they can out-tow, out-haul and out-perform the competition. In fact, the Silverado HD recently was named the 2011 Motor Trend Truck of the Year

UAW Local 598 Chairman Dana Rouse say “want to thank the Local 598 members for their hard work in building the best pickups on the road,” “Adding the third shift allows us to call back some former Flint Assembly workers and provide employment for others who have been laid off.”

Flint Assembly is one of five manufacturing-related sites operated by GM in the Flint area. Other GM sites include Flint Engine Operations, Flint Metal Center, Flint Tool & Die and the Grand Blanc Weld Tool Center. GM’s Customer Care and Aftersales is headquartered in Grand Blanc and operates warehouse and distribution centers in Flint. In total, GM employs more than 6,000 employees in the Flint area.