According to Edmunds.com, Tuesday, GM announced that a third production shift would be added to the plant that is set to produce the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. Why has the Wentzville Assembly Plant been on a hiring spree? Because dealers have already far surpassed expectations for the new mid-size GM trucks.

In Missouri, the humble Wenztville plant that is slated to take command of the new mid-size GM truck production, more employees are going to take to the floors to fulfill the new 3rd shift in 2015. Last week marked the beginning of production for the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, following a somewhat painful two year break. The last time a mid-sizer left a GM plant, it was located in Shreveport, LA — the plant would go on to close in 2012.The new shift will bring 750 jobs to the area, and around 3,350 UAW salaried workers. This is direct result of dealers ordering a jaw-dropping 42,000 unit of the mid-size truck— several times the original forecast.
GM expects the Colorado and Canyon to arrive in showrooms as soon as this month, or at least in early October. Their current production goals are in the 100,000 to 130,000 arena for the 2015 year model. However, sales are expected to hover in th 73,000 to 91,400 range from both models, according to IHS Automotive, LMC Automotive, and AutoPacific. It’s worth mentioning that August sales of pickup trucks are up 4% from last year, so increased production isn’t exactly presumptuous of GM.

With the new dealer orders and pickup truck demand, GM might finally be able to take down the Toyota Tacoma