Impala to join Volt, Malibu in Detroit

Within a few years, three of General Motors' most important cars, built on two platforms, will be moving down the same assembly line at a plant in GM's hometown.

GM said last week that it will build the next-generation Chevrolet Impala at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant, alongside the Chevrolet Volt and the redesigned Chevrolet Malibu, which is due out early next year.

The Impala will move to the longer version of GM's front-wheel-drive Epsilon platform, which underpins the 2013 Malibu as well as the Buick LaCrosse and Regal. The Volt is built on the same platform as the Chevrolet Cruze.

All of GM's plants have the ability to assemble various platforms on the same flexible line, a spokeswoman says.

The current Impala has been built at GM's Oshawa, Ontario, plant since 1999. Production of the aging large sedan, last restyled and re-engineered for the 2006 model year, isn't expected until 2014.

"It's time for a new one. It's maybe overdue," Mark Reuss, GM North America president, said after announcing the plans last week to hundreds of beaming factory workers.

Reuss declined to give details on the upcoming Impala, other than to say that it will stand out from the mid-sized Malibu, which also will be produced at GM's Fairfax plant in Kansas City, Kan.

"It's quite different from a design standpoint. I mean really different," Reuss said.

The investments are part of a more than $2 billion capital infusion into 17 GM plants in eight states. GM plans to hire back about 1,350 laid-off workers and perhaps add a few thousand more, depending on demand. GM's sales grew 25 percent in the first four months of this year compared with the same period in 2010.

Most of the jobs will go to Detroit-Hamtramck. GM is pouring nearly $200 million into tooling and equipment to support production of the Malibu and Impala. It plans to add a second and eventually a third shift for an additional 2,500 hourly and salaried workers. The plant now employs 1,121.

GM will idle the plant for about four weeks in June to prepare for a major boost in Volt production. GM plans to produce 16,000 Volts in 2011; as of May 7 it had assembled just 2,851. The target next year is 60,000 Volts, up from an earlier plan of 45,000.

The Detroit-Hamtramck plant also builds the Cadillac DTS and the Buick Lucerne, both of which are being phased out. The final DTS rolled off the line last week. Lucerne production ends within a few weeks.

Among other plants getting additional investment: Bowling Green, Ky., assembly, home of the Chevrolet Corvette; a transmission plant in Toledo, Ohio; and an engine plant Bay City, Mich.

A GM spokeswoman declined to comment on what the automaker will do with the extra capacity at Oshawa when production of the current Impala ends. That plant also makes the Chevrolet Camaro and Buick Regal and is an overflow plant for the Chevrolet Equinox