GM to add 750 workers to build small pickup trucks

  • By Tom Krisher Associated Press
  • Tuesday, September 16, 2014 1:36pm
  • Business

DETROIT — Early demand is so high for General Motors’ new small pickup trucks that the company is hiring more workers to build them even before one is sold to the public.

Nearly 100,000 prospective buyers have gone online to customize a Chevrolet Colorado or a GMC Canyon pickup and get a price. That, and 30,000 advance orders from dealers, is a sign of strong demand, GM said Tuesday.

GM plans to add 750 workers around March to staff a third shift at its plant in Wentzville, Mo., west of St. Louis. The factory already employs 2,600 people who build the Colorado and Canyon as well as the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans.

Strong sales would justify GM’s gamble on a diminished part of the market.

In the 1990s, Americans bought more than 1 million small pickups every year, attracted by their lower prices, reasonable gas mileage and ability to haul light loads. Then the bigger pickups, such as the Ford F-150, caught up in fuel economy. Last year, Americans bought only 227,000 small trucks, 14 percent fewer than in 2012. Sales are down 3 percent more so far this year.

GM stopped selling the Colorado and Canyon in 2012, and Ford halted sales of its Ranger small pickup in 2011. Currently the only two competitors are the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier with older models. In reviving the pickups, GM is aiming the Colorado at outdoorsy buyers on the coast, while the Canyon targets a more upscale clientele. The company said 97,000 people have built and priced the trucks on a GM website.

That’s far higher than just before an average new vehicle is launched, and “shows pretty good intent (to buy) when they go right through the process to configure and price,” said Alan Batey, GM’s North America president. The interest justifies hiring the new workers, he added.

Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for the Cars.com auto website, said GM has good reason to bring on the workers. Big pickup sales grew 9 percent in August and are up 5 percent for the year, Toprak said. Indexes that measure small-business confidence are at the highest since the Great Recession, and that normally translates to bigger truck sales, he said.

The smaller trucks have wide appeal, Toprak said. People in rural areas who don’t need to haul heavy loads like them, and drivers and businesses in big cities buy them because of their maneuverability and gas mileage, he said.

GM says the Colorado will start around $21,000. The Canyon will cost more. Trucks with a V6 engine will get an estimated 26 miles per gallon on the highway. The four-cylinder gas mileage hasn’t been announced, but it’s expected to be around 30 mpg highway. Chevrolet’s full-size truck, the Silverado, gets up to 24 mpg on the highway.

The new workers at the Wentzville plant should earn around $16 per hour to start, less than the $28 per hour earned by longtime factory employees. GM already has added about 1,300 jobs and invested $513 million at Wentzville to build the new trucks.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

Black Press Media operates Sound Publishing, the largest community news organization in Washington State with dailies and community news outlets in Alaska.
Black Press Media concludes transition of ownership

Black Press Media, which operates Sound Publishing, completed its sale Monday (March 25), following the formerly announced corporate restructuring.

Maygen Hetherington, executive director of the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, laughs during an interview in her office on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Snohomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Maygen Hetherington: tireless advocate for the city of Snohomish

Historic Downtown Snohomish Association receives the Opportunity Lives Here award from Economic Alliance.

FILE - Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs poses in front of photos of the 15 people who previously held the office on Nov. 22, 2021, after he was sworn in at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Hobbs faces several challengers as he runs for election to the office he was appointed to last fall. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs: ‘I wanted to serve my country’

Hobbs, a former Lake Stevens senator, is the recipient of the Henry M. Jackson Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Mark Duffy poses for a photo in his office at the Mountain Pacific Bank headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Mark Duffy: Building a hometown bank; giving kids an opportunity

Mountain Pacific Bank’s founder is the recipient of the Fluke Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Barb Tolbert poses for a photo at Silver Scoop Ice Cream on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Barb Tolbert: Former mayor piloted Arlington out of economic brink

Tolbert won the Elson S. Floyd Award, honoring a leader who has “created lasting opportunities” for the underserved.

Photo provided by 
Economic Alliance
Economic Alliance presented one of the Washington Rising Stem Awards to Katie Larios, a senior at Mountlake Terrace High School.
Mountlake Terrace High School senior wins state STEM award

Katie Larios was honored at an Economic Alliance gathering: “A champion for other young women of color in STEM.”

The Westwood Rainier is one of the seven ships in the Westwood line. The ships serve ports in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia. (Photo provided by Swire Shipping)
Westwood Shipping Lines, an Everett mainstay, has new name

The four green-hulled Westwood vessels will keep their names, but the ships will display the Swire Shipping flag.

A Keyport ship docked at Lake Union in Seattle in June 2018. The ship spends most of the year in Alaska harvesting Golden King crab in the Bering Sea. During the summer it ties up for maintenance and repairs at Lake Union. (Keyport LLC)
In crabbers’ turbulent moment, Edmonds seafood processor ‘saved our season’

When a processing plant in Alaska closed, Edmonds-based business Keyport stepped up to solve a “no-win situation.”

Angela Harris, Executive Director of the Port of Edmonds, stands at the port’s marina on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Edmonds, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Leadership, love for the Port of Edmonds got exec the job

Shoring up an aging seawall is the first order of business for Angela Harris, the first woman to lead the Edmonds port.

The Cascade Warbirds fly over Naval Station Everett. (Sue Misao / The Herald file)
Bothell High School senior awarded $2,500 to keep on flying

Cascade Warbirds scholarship helps students 16-21 continue flight training and earn a private pilot’s certificate.

Rachel Gardner, the owner of Musicology Co., a new music boutique record store on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. Musicology Co. will open in February, selling used and new vinyl, CDs and other music-related merchandise. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Edmonds record shop intends to be a ‘destination for every musician’

Rachel Gardner opened Musicology Co. this month, filling a record store gap in Edmonds.

MyMyToyStore.com owner Tom Harrison at his brick and mortar storefront on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burst pipe permanently closes downtown Everett toy store

After a pipe flooded the store, MyMyToystore in downtown Everett closed. Owner Tom Harrison is already on to his next venture.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.