GM still weighing model lineup for Oshawa

Source: Globe and Mail Update

January 14, 2008 at 2:43 PM EST

DETROIT — General Motors Corp., is still studying which cars to build in Oshawa, Ont., alongside the new Camaro, because the U.S. debate on fuel economy means it's difficult to assess the market for rear-wheel-drive cars, company chairman Rick Wagoner says.

“The issue we're looking at in the U.S. is just with the [corporate average fuel requirements], how big those segments are going to be,” Mr. Wagoner told a small group of reporters Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. “It really is the $64,000 question.”

He said GM has not concluded how sales of rear-wheel-drive vehicles will be affected by the U.S. government move to require fleets to average 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

“We've had a range of ideas,” he said. “In the latest developments on fuel economy, some seem more feasible than others and others that were pretty good a while ago don't seem as logical now.”

But he pointed out that there's likely to be high demand for a six-cylinder version of the Camaro and GM will offer a version.

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