Orion Assembly


Orion Assembly is a General Motors vehicle assembly plant located in Lake Orion, Michigan. The plant currently assembles the Chevrolet Sonic and Chevrolet Bolt. As of September 2019, the plant has approximately 1,032 salaried and hourly employees. It assumed operations of Buick City, and Pontiac Assembly.

History

Orion Assembly commenced production on December 1, 1983 with the 1985 model C-body cars. Orion Assembly produced the Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac G6 until 2009, when the plant was idled due to the General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization of 2009. The plant in suburban Detroit was saved from closure through a $1 billion grants and tax incentives from the state of Michigan, local municipalities and the federal government. Under an agreement with the UAW, the plant began assembling the successor to the South Korean-built Chevrolet Aveo, the Chevrolet Sonic, in 2011 — making it the only subcompact car currently assembled in America.
Later in 2011, the plant began manufacturing the Buick Verano.
In the past, GM assembled subcompact vehicles in Mexico or in South Korea due to lower cost labor rates in those countries. Under the new agreement with the UAW, GM will use domestic laborers earning less than under previous contracts and slimmed down labor rules to make assembling subcompact vehicles in the US economically competitive. For younger workers wages were cut in half from the standard $28/hour. For the first time, parts supplier employees worked alongside of GM workers on the assembly line. They made as little as $10/hour. This arrangement replaced GM's previous plan to import a new subcompact vehicle from China. Orion's bid was selected over those from plants in Wisconsin, and Tennessee.
On March 22, 2019, GM announced an additional investment of $300 million and an addition of 400 workers to build a new electric vehicle at Orion.

Dedication ceremony

On July 5, 1984, President Ronald Reagan gave a ceremonial dedication speech at the plant. Also in attendance were Michigan Governor Jim Blanchard, Michigan Senators Carl Levin and Don Riegle, Representative William Broomfield and notable General Motors executives, including chairman and CEO Roger Smith.
During his speech, Reagan commended both GM and the United Auto Workers for their progress in the automotive industry.

Products made

Current