Bowling Green Restart Watch

Well here it is. Multiple sources are now confirming a wide spread North American Automotive restart on May 18. Here is the media release: GM alerts UAW members to restart production on May 18

So we shall see if this holds true for Bowling Green, KY I do think our current dates shown as TPW's are little more than place holders with little hope for accurate dates. But as soon as the plants open we should see them adjust again to be more accurate. The one variable we cannot count on is the extent of order cancellations for the plant. No doubt the economic fall out from this event has been large and damaging to some personally. Who knows how many orders may simply be removed or cancelled. This would have the effect of moving any remaining orders up the line. So maybe our dates will not be as negatively impacted to those remaining. It is a wild card for sure.
 
Just a few more news sources here to confirm dates of target restart.

www.freep.com

GM tells UAW members its planned date to begin factory restarts

GM will begin next week to prep North American plants for a cadenced restart of production starting May 18.
www.freep.com
www.detroitnews.com

GM tells some plants it will begin restart May 18

GM sent out alerts to United Auto Workers members at some factories alerting them it plans to restart factories May 18
www.detroitnews.com
www.wxyz.com

GM to restart production in the US on May 18 'under extensive safety measures'

General Motors is aiming to restart production in the United States and Canada later this month.
www.wxyz.com www.wxyz.com
 
BNN announced it this morning too. I will give them a couple of days before I contact GM Chat for an updated and hopefully more accurate TPW. My vert was scheduled to be built 17 days after they shut down. So hopefully they will build it 17 days after reopening.
 
The report says some plants will start to ramp up next week, maybe BGA is one of those since the Governor of Kentucky said they pants can open on May 11th.
 
ABC said:
Found this interesting article on C8 chassis production. The factory has been making these all along during shutdown. Full production set to resume May 18.

www.nytimes.com

An Auto Plant Shutdown, With a Loophole for Corvette Workers (Published 2020)

Big U.S. automakers have kept the lights on at a few factories, including a General Motors plant in Indiana making the Corvette chassis.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
Click to expand...

A very interesting article indeed. Great news for us "pending" C8 buyers, with the C8 chassis production having continued in spite of COVID. And for those who say that GM was losing money on the 2020 C8 pricing, the article states:

"A Morgan Stanley report in November predicted that Corvette sales would bring in roughly 2 percent of G.M.’s revenue in 2020, an estimated $3.3 billion, and put the car’s profit margin at 16.5 percent, about twice the company’s average in North America."

Those stats have since been amended due to the effects of COVID-19 but this certainly shows the 2020 C8 to have been profitable, even at its introductory pricing. Also of interest, it goes on to say that GM might consider manufacturing an SUV-related Corvette but this sounds much more speculative:

"The report predicted that Corvette sales could increase to about 100,000 in 2029, from 40,000 this year, if the company developed a Corvette S.U.V. — a step other high-end sports car manufacturers have taken and one that a former G.M. vice chairman, Bob Lutz, has urged. (The company declined to comment on future vehicles.)"

Does anyone here want to cancel their C8 order and wait for the "Corvette SUV"?? :)

Thanks for bringing this article to the Forum's attention "ABC"!
 
I hope none of these `volunteer` workers in Indiana are ill because of making the chassis for us C8 guys.
The best to them.
 
larryd said:
I hope none of these `volunteer` workers in Indiana are ill because of making the chassis for us C8 guys.
The best to them.
Click to expand...
I suspect if any had been ill they would have shut the place down. From what I have read, they had issues keeping up with production volumes with the start of the new C8 from the very beginning. I am guessing a steep learning curve. So my guess is that this skeleton shift has allowed the supplier to stockpile frames for the BGA restart. Perhaps also time to continue to diagnose bugs in the process and increase efficiency or address learning curve issues. May 18 is their full factory restart ETA for now.
 
I hope we find out 2021 pricing in the next month as it will decide if I pick up my 2020 for a late summer delivery or I wait for a 2021. My dealer is good about my status 3000 car, he will sell it and use my deposit towards another one.
 

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