General Motors is extending plans to keep building old-generation Silverado and Sierra pickups into next year. That means continued production of the vehicles at the company's Oshawa plant.
GM's CFO Dhivya Suryadevara said last week that the company will start to slow production of last-generation trucks in crew cab form early next year. Those are the models of the new truck that the GMC and Chevrolet brands ramped up first. After crew cabs, then double cabs and finally single cab models will start to end, "the early second half of next year," Automotive News reports.
Production of the current next-generation trucks started in July at an Indiana plant, with double cabs following in October. GM's Silao, Mexico, facility is expected to start building regular cab models early next year.
Suryadevara said during a talk about company earnings that the new truck launch was "going exceptionally well." The company delivered 45,000 new-gen trucks in the third quarter of last year.
The continuing construction of old-generation pickups means continued volume at GM's Oshawa plant. Though what's called the Oshawa Shuttle, unfinished Silverado and Sierra trucks are shipped to the Canadian plant for paint and final assembly. The program started early this year, adding HD trucks over the summer. GM employed a similar process to meet Chevrolet Equinox demand in years past.
GM spokesperson Kim Carpenter told Automotive News that the program was a "great success" and would "run into late 2019 based on market demand." That means construction of more vehicles than originally forecast.
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