GM Shifts New-Car Program from Michigan to Kansas

General Motors Co. has dropped a $245 million plan announced last summer to launch a new vehicle program at its Orion small-car factory outside Detroit in 2018, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Instead, GM will build the new model at its Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City. The change in plans was driven by a desire to “build vehicles as cost-effectively as possible,” according to the company.

The underutilized Orion plant currently operates on one shift to make the Chevrolet Sonic minicar and Buick Verano small luxury sedan. The facility also has begun pilot production of the Chevy Bolt electric car, which will go on sale later this year.

The Fairfax factory makes Buick LaCrosse and Chevrolet Malibu midsize sedans. GM hasn’t revealed details about the new model, but the Journal and other media reports say the vehicle will be a Cadillac small crossover.

The Orion plant was expected to be shuttered seven years ago. But GM was required to keep it running under terms of the federal bailout that rescued the company from bankruptcy. The facility has struggled since then. Losing the $245 million program makes its future less certain. And media reports suggest GM intends to move the plant’s Verano production to Mexico.