While the 5th-generation Camaro has finally been gifted with a long-awaited (and well-received) facelift, much of the buzz these days about what the next-gen Camaro will look like. It will almost certainly be smaller, and it has to be lighter than the current heavyweight to meet stringent fuel economy standards. But almost as important as the car itself is where its built, and there’s something slightly unsettling about an American muscle car being built in Canada.
But a special report on GM’s Lansing Grand River assembly plant in the Lansing State Journal indicates that, without much fanfare, production of the Chevy Camaro will move from Oshawa, Canada to Lansing, Michigan. This will add jobs and a good ol’ fashioned ‘Made in the USA’ sticker to the next-gen Camaro.
Much of the piece focuses on the compact, high-tech factory located south of downtown Lansing, and how it has become a model of team-building, efficiency-increasing employment practices. The plant has built almost a million Cadillacs in the twelve years since it opened, and new models like the ATS and SRX are built side-by-side despite drastically different underpinnings. This showcases the versatility of the plant, and plays into the indications that Camaro production could move there.
Considering the rumors hinting that the Camaro could ride on the same platform as the ATS, it would make sense to house production of both models in the same facility. With GM closing one Oshawa plant, and production at the other only guaranteed through 2016, production of the new Camaro almost certainly seems slated for Lansing, though the 2015 timeline seems a bit ambitious, especially given the 50th anniversary of the Camaro is just around the corner at that point.