CAMI Assembly (an initialism of its original name, Canadian Automotive Manufacturing Inc.) is an automotiveassembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, owned and operated by General Motors Canada. The plant currently assembles the Chevrolet BrightDropbattery-electriccargo van for the North American market. CAMI occupies 570 acres (230ha) and has 1,700,000 square feet (157,900m2) of floor space of which 400,000 square feet (37,161m2) was added in 2016,[2] as part of a $560 million investment.[3]
CAMI was established in 1989 as a joint venture with Suzuki, and has been wholly owned by GM since 2009. It uses the CAMI Production System (CPS), a set of operating philosophies that guide team members in manufacturing vehicles. The basis of the system is working in teams performing standardized work. This is based on the Japanese production system, which is built on a team concept.[4]
Production began in late 1989 after several delays. To circumvent the American 25 percent "Chicken tax", the entire Canadian production of Geo Trackers was initially shipped to the United States. The Canadian market, not afflicted by a similar tariff, was supplied directly from Japan.[5]
In November 2009, GM announced to invest US$85 million investment at the plant, raising production by 40,000 vehicles to 240,000 by adding a third shift, resulting in the recall of about 150 laid-off autoworkers in preparation of the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain.[6][7] Until December 2009, ownership of CAMI was split 50-50% between Suzuki and General Motors of Canada Ltd.[6] The former withdrew from the venture after it stopped production of its XL7 models at CAMI in June 2009 due to poor sales.[6]
In December 2010, contrary to conditions set out by Canadian federal and Ontario provincial governments, GM laid off approximately 90 salaried staff as a result of its takeover of the CAMI Assembly plant.[8]
From 2013 the plant has produced vehicles based on GM's Theta platform for crossover SUVs; production of the second generation Chevrolet Equinox for fleet sales continued even as production of the third generation model started on 8 January 2017.[9] In 2013 GM announced a US$200 million (C$250 million) investment for a new body shop and flexible manufacturing equipment and tooling to support future production.[10]
In early 2015, GM announced to invest US$450 million (C$560 million) in the plant in preparation for production of the next generation Chevrolet Equinox.[10] The amount included C$190 million at the plant and C$370 million in vendor tooling with suppliers.[3]
In January 2017, GM announced it would cut 625 workers as a result of shifting production of the second generation GMC Terrain to Mexico and phasing out the second generation Chevrolet Equinox earlier than planned.[11] CAMI Automotive has 2,800 hourly and 300 salaried employees in early 2017 before the layoff.[12] CAMI also supplied unfinished bodies of Chevrolet Equinox to GM's Oshawa Car Assembly for painting and final assembly.[13] The arrangement ended after the production of the second generation Chevrolet Equinox ceased in 2017. In response to the Terrain's shifting and due to the production of the Equinox in two plants in Mexico, workers went on a strike, demanding CAMI become the main assembly point of the Equinox. The strike ended on October 16, 2017.[14]
In 2021, GM announced CAMI Assembly would transition to the BrightDrop platform (starting in May 2022[15]) to become General Motors Canada's first commercial EV manufacturing plant.[16] Announced initial buyers include FedEx and Walmart.[17] The plant will begin to produce the BrightDrop Zevo 600 in December 2022,[18] and the Zevo 400 in 2023.[19]
The first BrightDrop vehicles were produced in early December 2022,[20] with a grand opening event attended by various dignitaries.[21] GM also announced package delivery service [FEDEX] as its first international EV customer.[22]
2009 - Suzuki withdraws from venture; gives General Motors full control.[24]
2016 - Plant expansion
2017 - Production start of third generation Equinox;[9] production of sister second generation Terrain moved to Mexico;[25] in response of the Terrain's moving to Mexico, workers go on a strike demanding CAMI to become the main assembly point of the Equinox in order to prevent more shiftings to Mexico.[26]
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