Workers on Isuzu line keep building medium-duty trucks
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Isuzu trucks made in Janesville await shipping. The trucks will still be built in Janesville by about 50 people until mid-year.
JANESVILLE — The concerned relative had it partly right.
"Too bad about the GM thing, but I hear the Janesville plant is getting a new medium-duty truck," the relative told a salaried employee of the auto plant in Janesville at a holiday gathering.
Full-size sport utility vehicle production has ended at the local General Motors plant, but medium-duty truck production is continuing—not starting—in Janesville.
And it likely will continue into May, when the lights finally go off in the facility that has been producing vehicles since 1923.
When GM officials announced last June that SUV production would cease in Janesville, they also said that medium-duty truck production would conclude by the end of 2009, or sooner if market conditions dictate.
Orphaned by the loss of its big brother in December, the Isuzu line and its 50 or so hourly and salaried employees continue to build about 25 trucks four days a week in what has become a nearly empty plant.
The Isuzu line is operating in the north end of the 4.8 million-square-foot plant, an area that was once the plant's tire building.
In a partnership with Isuzu, local workers build the NPR truck, which is commonly used as a delivery vehicle.
"NPR is a model designation; the letters don't stand for anything, although they have some significance," said Jim Burke, who wrapped up a 34-year GM career in 2007 as the production superintendent on the NPR line.
"I like to joke that it stands for National Public Radio."
GM and Isuzu strengthened their partnership in 1994 with the launch of the NPR gas-powered trucks in Janesville. Two years later, GM and Isuzu started a separate project that put Isuzu-designed cabs on GM's medium-duty chassis. That line eventually moved to Flint, Mich.
What remains in Janesville is the NPR "W" series, which is Isuzu designed and engineered except for the GM power train.
"It's what we call a light medium-duty truck, a delivery-type truck that has good maneuverability in alleys and easier access," Burke said.
When Burke launched the NPR project in 1994, the line had about 20 to 25 workers. The 50 who remain today probably represent the line's high-water mark for employment, he said.
"We really started it with a small volume," he said. "It's a totally self-sufficient product that at one time got about 50 percent of its material from the United States. Now it's even more sourced from the U.S."
In 2004, workers in Janesville produced their 50,000th NPR, which was celebrated before a floral shop owner drove it off to his store in Tennessee.
By the time production wraps up later this year, the Janesville plant will likely have produced more than 70,000 units.
Feb 14, 2009 at 12:21 a.m.
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you guys should consider nissan when you shut down.
Feb 3, 2009 at 11:49 a.m.
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Woodsman-Take a chill pill. She was asking a question.
Feb 2, 2009 at 10:37 p.m.
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"I see Chrysler offering new buyouts this friday
I wonder if Gm will do the same too soon?"
Looks like it.
"GM's offers, to nearly all its UAW employees, are less lucrative. The Detroit company is offering $20,000 in cash and a $25,000 car voucher for workers who retire early and those who simply leave the company, according to the union official."
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/GM-Chrysle...
Feb 2, 2009 at 10 p.m.
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Woodsman: Relax, man. I don't think greengina8 meant anything negative.
Feb 2, 2009 at 9:39 p.m.
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greengina8: Is that a between the line hoping for more bad luck for G.M. people?? If your a hater,go back to your cave!
Feb 2, 2009 at 8:44 p.m.
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greengina8 - They still get their pensions, and if GM goes broke, I'm pretty sure they'll get it from the Federal Pension Insurance.
Feb 2, 2009 at 6:41 p.m.
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So with the plant closing, what happens to all the people who retired before this all went down? Do they still get their retirement, or is that gone, too?
Feb 2, 2009 at 6:29 p.m.
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Sluggo - sorry. My bad.
I think those trucks are cool also. They look fun to drive.
Feb 2, 2009 at 6:10 p.m.
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I think those trucks are cool
Feb 2, 2009 at 5:01 p.m.
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opps guess my punctuation is wrong oh well
Feb 2, 2009 at 5 p.m.
Feb 2, 2009 at 2:28 p.m.
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I see Chrysler offering new buyouts this friday
I wonder if Gm will do the same too soon?
Feb 2, 2009 at 1:57 p.m.
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The letter being the one handed out to the employees (not the website).
Feb 2, 2009 at 1:43 p.m.
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Beenthere - I read the letter and it never states anything about a date in April. It only states a reduction in units. That would clear me of any "moronic" undertones.
Feb 2, 2009 at 1:07 p.m.
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Here is some news about bigger medium-duty trucks built by Isuzu in Flint, MI.
"GM considering deal with Isuzu to sell medium-duty truck business now at Flint Truck Assembly"
http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/...
Feb 2, 2009 at 12:57 p.m.
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Localboy -- "it" in the context of this sentence: "And it likely will continue into May, when the lights finally go off in the facility that has been producing vehicles since 1923." -- is referring to medium duty truck production. "It" is ending on April 23; I am not so moronic to think that they won't need lights on to do the tear-down work. I was simply making a statement that it was recently announced that the NPR line was ceasing production a month earlier than originally anticipated.
Feb 2, 2009 at 12:01 p.m.
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Either way, TheJoker stated it would be running after the 1st of the year. He heard that from his plethora of "inside sources".
Beenthere - Production will stop then, but there will be activity (repair, teardown, clean up etc) going on. I am pretty sure they need the lights on to do it.
Jim Luete - that 50,000th truck went to Flowers Bakery in Georgia. I guess that could be construed as a floral shop.....
Feb 2, 2009 at 10:32 a.m.
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"And it likely will continue into May, when the lights finally go off in the facility that has been producing vehicles since 1923."
Not so, it was announced last week on the local union's website that medium duty production is to end on April 23rd.
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