It’s morning again in Orion

Orion Assembly already has helped breathe new life into General Motors twice since opening nearly 40 years ago to build Buick Electras and Cadillac Fleetwoods. GM is betting $4 billion that the plant in Detroit’s far northern suburbs can do it a third time.

Dedicated by President Ronald Reagan during his 1984 “Morning in America” reelection campaign, Orion helped GM rebound from what was then the country’s worst recession since World War II.

“It took great courage for all of you to make this kind of an investment,” Reagan said after GM CEO Roger Smith introduced him, during “a time of great uncertainty.”

But in 2009, GM shut down Orion (pronounced OR-ee-in, not like the constellation) and about a dozen other plants as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.

The closure was short-lived, though. After winning a three-state battle of tax incentives, Orion came back to life as a symbol of New GM, to show that the automaker could build fuel-efficient small cars profitably in the U.S.

The small-car boom turned out to be short-lived, too. Since 2016, Orion has had just one daily shift, usually a grim sign for a plant’s future prospects.

Instead, GM is turning Orion into a centerpiece of its electric vehicle revolution, as detailed in a Page 1 story this week. In 2024, the plant will start churning out electric Chevrolet Silverados and GMC Sierras at a rate of up to 360,000 a year. That’s more the triple the total number of Chevy Bolt EVs it’s made over five years.

(GM isn’t saying anything definitive yet, but as another story in this week’s issue explains, Orion’s switch to electric pickups — plus the impending arrival of a $30,000 Chevy Equinox EV — will likely spell the end of the Bolt.)

Converting auto plants from combustion vehicles to EVs is a complicated and expensive process, particularly when consumer adoption of the new technology remains a wild card.

But GM made clear that it’s not waiting around idly to find out. It found courage amid the uncertainty to spend big on Orion again.

— Nick Bunkley   

In Monday’s Automotive News:

Dealing with the EPA’s new emissions rule: How will automakers handle the EPA’s tougher vehicle emissions rule? In the near term, automakers might lean on more efficient gasoline-powered vehicles and hybrid powertrains to meet increases in the 2023 and 2024 model years. But the rule — which sunsets several flexibility provisions that allow automakers to generate compliance credits — could require manufacturers to accelerate their electrification strategies in the later years, putting the industry on a trajectory to meet even tougher requirements in the next rule-making and reach President Joe Biden’s goal of half of new-vehicle sales being zero emission by 2030.

Large and in charge: Toyota showed its bigger, bolder, new-for-2023 Sequoia and it looks like this new model is much needed: The Sequoia hasn’t cracked 10,000 sales in the last two years — it peaked at 70,000 two decades ago. With demand growing for trucks with useful third-row seats, the redesigned Sequoia will reach the market in the third quarter to take on segment heavyweights such as the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Ford Expedition. Much like the recently redesigned Tundra pickup with which it shares a platform, the Sequoia’s long-needed overhaul includes a hybrid drivetrain, new luxe trim, new tech and some new third-row and cargo tricks. Aimed at younger Gen Xers/older millennials, Toyota’s sales goal is roughly 30,000.

GM’s Michigan EV commitment: General Motors is committing nearly $7 billion — the single largest investment in its history — toward building more electric trucks and EV batteries in Michigan. The plans include a battery-cell plant and the conversion of GM’s Chevrolet Bolt assembly plant to build battery-powered versions of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups. GM and battery partner LG Energy Solution won tax incentives exceeding $824 million from the state for the commitment.

Mazda made in the USA once more: The first production CX-50 crossover rolled off the line at the automaker’s joint-venture plant with Toyota in Huntsville, Ala. The new model marks Mazda’s return to U.S. manufacturing. The Japanese automaker last assembled cars in the U.S. a decade ago as part of a joint venture with Ford. 

Cybertruck delay: Tesla won’t be launching any new models this year, including the much-ballyhooed Cybertruck. CEO Elon Musk said the electric vehicle maker will focus on increasing capacity from its current plants in California and China and its nearly ready new factories in Texas and Germany. 

Feb. 2, 1937: Date of birth of Fujio Cho, the genial manufacturing guru who Americanized Toyota by spearheading its drive into local production and then ran the entire automaking juggernaut from Japan as its global president. Cho was instrumental in the preparations for Toyota’s first American plant in Georgetown, Ky., which opened in 1986.