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VOL. 37 | NO. 2 | Friday, January 11, 2013
Auto Industry
Tennessee, Kentucky plants cooperate in building Corvette
NASHVILLE (AP) - Two General Motors plants 90 miles apart will be utilized to build the newest incarnation of the Chevrolet Corvette sports car.
The vehicle is assembled at the GM plant in Bowling Green, Ky.
The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/U3xH1H) reported that, for the first time, some body components will be manufactured at the carmaker's plant in Spring Hill, Tenn.
"We will be making the front and rear fascias and sending them up to Bowling Green," said Spring Hill plant spokeswoman Lee Ann Williams-Maley.
The facias are essentially the front and rear bumper assemblies, which will be manufactured of a plastic composite material in special injection molds.
More workers will be needed in Spring Hill to make the components, but Michael Herron, chairman of United Auto Workers Local 1853 said it isn't yet clear how many more.
"Our team members are very excited about being a part of t his exciting new vehicle for Chevrolet," Herron said. "To me, getting this work for Spring Hill speaks volumes about the quality we've achieved in our injection-molding operation here."
The plant currently makes similar parts of the Chevrolet Traverse crossover vehicle.
The Spring Hill plant was built to make the Saturn auto brand, which has been discontinued.
In Bowling Green, GM is spending $131 million to retool the assembly plant where Corvettes have been produced since mid-1991.
The company intends to begin selling the redesigned Corvette in the third quarter of 2013.