General Motors (GM) mulls contract manufacturing partnership for vans 25-Nov-2015 12:23 GMT News Production Statistics & Forecasts Needs to free up production capacity for popular pick-ups General Motors (GM) is reportedly in talks to outsource the production of its Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana cargo vans on contract manufacturing, as the company is looking to free up space at its plants to meet rising demand for pick-ups, reports industry publication Automotive News. Citing a note circulated to GM's workers at the Wentzville, Missouri plant, the news agency suggests that the automaker is "studying a partnership" with Indiana-based AM General to begin production of the cutaway models. "The truck and van continue strong sales … This potential partnership would free up production capacity and allow the organisation to capitalise on our ability to build midsize trucks to further satisfy customer demand", the report stated. Spokespersons at GM and AM General declined to comment on the news. Significance: GM manufactures the Chevrolet Colorado and the Express models, and GMC's Canyon and Savana models at the Wentzville plant for more than a decade, according to IHS Automotive data. The site has come under pressure from high demand for the recently launched Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pick-up truck. Both the models are seeing sales far outstrip current supply, with the report suggesting that vehicles spend an average of 24 days and 37 days, respectively, at dealers. GM added a third production shift and 750 jobs at its Wentzville plant during September 2014 and made additional production adjustments during May this year. GM has previously contracted with AM General to build its Hummer H2 SUV. The model was produced at AM General's Mishawaka plant in Indiana during 2002–09, according to our data. AM General currently manufactures US-based automobile manufacturer Vehicle Production Group's (VPG) MV-1 and Ford's Transit Connect models on a contract basis. The information contained in this presentation is confidential. Any unauthorized use, disclosure, reproduction, or dissemination, in full or in part, in any media or by any means, without the prior written permission of IHS Markit or any of its affiliates ("IHS Markit") is strictly prohibited. IHS Markit owns all IHS Markit logos and trade names contained in this report that are subject to license. Opinions, statements, estimates, and projections in this report (including other media) are solely those of the individual author(s) at the time of writing and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of IHS Markit. Neither IHS Markit nor the author(s) has any obligation to update this report in the event that any content, opinion, statement, estimate, or projection (collectively, "information") changes or subsequently becomes inaccurate. IHS Markit makes no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of any information in this report, and shall not in any way be liable to any recipient for any inaccuracies or omissions. Without limiting the foregoing, IHS Markit shall have no liability whatsoever to any recipient, whether in contract, in tort (including negligence), under warranty, under statute or otherwise, in respect of any loss or damage suffered by any recipient as a result of or in connection with any information provided, or any course of action determined, by it or any third party, whether or not based on any information provided. The inclusion of a link to an external website by IHS Markit should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or the site's owners (or their products/services). IHS Markit is not responsible for either the content or output of external websites. Copyright © 2021, IHS Markit®. All rights reserved and all intellectual property rights are retained by IHS Markit..