Top 10 in production quality
Jun 05, 2008 - 07:11 AM
Tony Van Alphen
TORONTO -- The General Motors truck plant in Oshawa that it plans to close next year, produces the highest quality large pickups in North and South America, according to a leading industry study.
J.D. Power and Associates revealed Wednesday in its annual study of initial quality that the Oshawa plant posted the fewest problems among full-size pickup operations in its assembly of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra models.
Furthermore, J.D. Power noted the GM Oshawa plant finished in the top 10 operations for quality among 71 assembly facilities on the two continents.
GM announced Tuesday that it would close four assembly operations including the truck plant in Oshawa during the second half of next year because soaring fuel prices are driving buyers away from pickups and sport utility vehicles to smaller more fuel-efficient cars.
Union officials said they did not understand why GM would close its top pickup plant when it is striving to win buyers with better quality than the leading offshore-based auto giants.
"If you had to close a plant, why would you move the production from the one with the best quality to somewhere else where there is less," said Keith Osborne, plant chair for the Canadian Auto Workers at GM in Oshawa. "Imagine that. It doesn't make any sense."
GM's move will eliminate more than 2,000 jobs on two shifts at the 43-year-old plant.
J.D. Power, a major U.S.-based consumer research firm, would not disclose where the Oshawa plant ranked in the top 10 or the number of problems per 100 vehicles. But it is well below the industry average, the firm confirmed.
The research firm, which released problem numbers for brands but not for any specific models, said three other Canadian plants finished in the top 10 for quality.
They are Honda's Alliston plant, manufacturer of the Civic compact; Toyota's Cambridge's operation, producer of the Lexus RX luxury multi-activity vehicle; and GM's Oshawa car factory, assembler of Pontiac Grand Prix.
The Oshawa car plant had produced Grand Prix sedans but discontinued production to concentrate on other models.
J.D. Power said Civic had the highest quality ranking among compacts and Lexus RX topped mid-size premium models for the second consecutive year. The Grand Prix finished first among large cars.
GM is consolidating production in its two Oshawa car plants into a new flexible manufacturing operation. The No.2 Oshawa car plant produced the highest quality of any assembly operation on the two continents in 2005 and 2006.
J.D. Power based its study on responses to more than 200 questions from 81,500 buyers of 2008 models after 90 days of ownership. Problems involve defects and design flaws ranging from poor braking to wind noise and rattling parts.
Richard Cooper, vice-president of J.D. Power and Associates in Canada, said six of nine assembly plants here produced models above the industry average in quality.
Among brands, Porsche, Infiniti, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz and Toyota topped the quality rankings. Porsche had only 87 problems per 100 vehicles. Jeep, Mini, Land Rover and Saturn brands posted the highest number of problems. Jeep had 167 problems per 100 vehicles. 
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