In response GM has shifted some of its small car design projects from Europe, Australia and South Korea to the United States to spread the workload more evenly.
The information comes from company spokesman Mike Albano, who revealed to Automotive News that the Warren design center in Michigan will eventually handle work for two vehicle architectures that were originally meant to be developed in Europe. "We have had a couple studios where some projects have been canceled," he explained. "We have other studios that are totally overloaded. We just need to level that work around the globe."
While Albano wouldn't identify the vehicle architectures, he said that work had been shifted for a number of small and subcompact vehicles.
GM is also increasingly utilizing its resources in new markets such as India and China. The design of the recent Buick Invicta Concept, for example, was handled by teams in both Detroit and China, while the GMC Denali E85 Two-Mode Hybrid Concept was designed almost exclusively in Australia.
GMC Denali E85 Two-Mode Hybrid Concept