GM new heavy dutys can be ordered in 2 weeks!
Just talked with friend who works for the largest chevy dealer in Illinois, and he said his latest new was that new hds 2015 can be ordered in 2 weeks and they will start assembly in January. He also ...
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kaydeejay wrote:NJRVer wrote:It's not a question of more people on the assembly line.kaydeejay wrote:Care to explain.NJRVer wrote:I guess if you haven't been there you won't understand!
Introducing a "complete" new line up in one year has nothing to do with inventory.
If you go into production you are producing vehicles. Doesn't matter if they are new design or old.
I'm thinking it has more to do with unloading their old parts inventory.
BTW it has NOTHING to do with inventory - it's all about man-power.
Why would you need more people on the assembly line in 2014 than you would in 2013?
The folks who are in limited supply are the engineers (design, manufacturing and production) who are on-site in a plant during a new model start up. They can only be in one plant at a time.
Staggering the introductions means they can focus their efforts on one location, then move on to the next.
This is AFTER the test, validation and certification Engineers have done their work in providing data to the Feds that the vehicle comply with ALL Safety and Emission regulations.
This cannot be a "Broad-Brush" process, it has to be done one at a time for every significant variation of a model. It used to be estimated it cost approx $1M for each model produced and took many weeks, no months, of engineer time to accomplish. Trucks in particular represent HUNDREDS of different variations, each one has to be treated separately.
Until that was all done and the paperwork filed I did not authorize issue of Vehicle Identification Numbers for that product. That was the stopper that prevented production of non-compliant vehicles
(This is going back almost 12 years, but I doubt it has changed that much)
All Manufacturers are operating with fewer staff so this stuff has to to be spread over a longer period of time.
Does that help?
A big thanks for that "insider" info.
Who would have thought there would have to be multiple start ups for each variation of a single model.
It still doesn't seem right to hold back production on HD trucks and have split model years. Even with the extra startup costs, it seems you would want your truck line all out at once to make a big splash in a marketing campaign.
There are a lot of HD truck buyers out there besides RV'ers.
