GM plant closings — Texas thoughts

I commented briefly on GM’s announced plant closures earlier, but now that I’ve put this week’s newspaper to bed, I have more time to look at this issue further.

First, no news is good news, right now, about the Arlington plant. But, given that it’s an SUV plant, good news can’t come without any strings attached.

Is GM going to start building cars there too?

Second, re the uses of the Arlington plant, and GM’s actions in general:

“It is significant, but this is a late reaction to changing market dynamics,” said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “The plans really should have been in place a number of years ago.”

Totally agreed.

Not only is GM behind the curve on retooling both its plants and its corporate mindset, this is a credibility issue.

So, too, is continuing to tout Volt rather than do what it can right now with hybrid cars.

Oh, and there’s THIS minor problem:

Buzz Hargrove, president of the Toronto-based Canadian Auto Workers union, said closing the Oshawa, Ontario plant would violate the three-year contract reached with GM last month.

“We are not going to allow this to happen,” he said at a news conference, declining to specify how the union will respond.

Assuming GM CEO Rick Wagoner had an eye cast on Oshawa during contract negotiations earlier this year, he could be accused of bad-faith bargaining. A strike would throw a monkey wrench in GM retooling.

Finally, GMAC, whose financing had helped GM buff up its overall bottom line in the past, is now a lead anchor itself due to subprime mortgage exposure.