General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant

This article is about the current automotive plant on a former airfield. For the history of the airfield, the adjacent WWII federal land, and the post-war Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac plant, see Fairfax Field. For the history of the former airport, see Fairfax Airport.
The plant from the south. The runway of the old airport is on all sides
President George W. Bush shaking hands with Fairfax assembly line workers on March 20, 2007

Fairfax Assembly is a General Motors automobile factory at 3201 Fairfax Trafficway, Kansas City, Kansas. The 3,200,000 sq ft (300,000 m2). plant employs 2,700 hourly and salaried employees. Employees are represented by UAW Local 31.[1]

In January 2013 GM announced $600 million in upgrades to the plant including a new 450,000-square-foot paint shop and a new stamping press. The press release noted that at the time the company has 3,900 workers on the 572 acre site and they are producing a new car every 58 seconds. The renovations, which are aimed at reducing water consumption and chemical waste, are not expected to interfere with its production.[2]

Fairfax

The original Fairfax assembly plant was located next to Fairfax Airport which was the former location of the North American Bomber Production Plant where the B-25 Mitchell was manufactured during World War II. After the war GM purchased the building and converted it to an automobile assembly plant, and was under the management of GM's newly created Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Division created in 1945. In 1952, alongside car production, the plant produced F-84F jet-powered fighters.

Fairfax II

The original Fairfax plant ceased production in 1986, and production was moved to Fairfax II. Fairfax II is located on the former Fairfax airport in a $1 billion project. The new plant began production with the 1988 model year Pontiac Grand Prix. On August 23, 2005, the Fairfax facility built its 10 millionth car. The Pontiac brand was dissolved in 2010 as part of GM's Chapter 11 reorganization. The plant currently manufactures the Buick LaCrosse & Buick LaCrosse eAssist, along with the Chevrolet Malibu 2.0L turbo, Malibu Eco and Malibu 1.5l Turbo. More than 12 million vehicles have been built at both Fairfax facilities since 1945. The Fairfax plant is the largest employer in the Kansas City Metro area.

Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Division (1945-1965)

Plants operating under Chevrolet Assembly management prior to General Motors Assembly Division management (most established pre-1945) were located at St. Louis, Missouri; Janesville, Wisconsin; Buffalo, New York; Norwood, Ohio; Flint (#2), Michigan; Oakland, California; Tarrytown, New York; Lakewood, Georgia; Leeds, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; Los Angeles (Van Nuys), California; Ypsilanti (Willow Run), Michigan; and Lordstown, Ohio. Framingham, Massachusetts is unusual in that it changed from B-O-P to Chevy management prior to becoming GMAD.

The terminology is confusing because most plants assembled more than just Chevrolet or B-O-P, and refers to the management structure only. The five brands originated vehicles from their respective "home" plants, where vehicles were assembled locally for their respective regions. Vehicles were also produced in "knock-down" kits and sent to the branch assembly locations. The "home" branches were Flint, Michigan for both Buick and Chevrolet; Oldsmobile at Lansing, Michigan; Pontiac at Pontiac, Michigan; and Cadillac at Detroit, Michigan.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ GM Celebrates J.D. Power Recognition at Fairfax Assembly Plant - July 25, 2008
  2. ↑ http://www.kansascity.com/2013/01/28/4035503/gm-plans-600m-upgrade-at-kansas.html#storylink=cpy
  3. ↑ http://vcca.org/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/99892/Re_Fisher_Body_Company

Coordinates: 39°08′50″N 94°36′12″W / 39.14722°N 94.60333°W / 39.14722; -94.60333

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