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Oklahoma City Assembly was aGeneral Motorsautomobile factory inOklahoma City,Oklahoma.
Construction on the 4,000,000-square-foot (370,000 m2) plant started in 1974, and it opened in 1979 to produce the newly designedX-body cars for the 1980 model year. After X-body cars cameA-body cars (1985-1996) and then the plant began producing theOldsmobile Cutlass through 1999 andChevrolet Malibu through 2001. The company spent $700,000,000 to convert the plant from building the Chevrolet Malibu to building the all-newGMT360SUVs (Chevrolet TrailBlazer,GMC Envoy,Oldsmobile Bravada) in 2001 for the 2002 model year. The plant was damaged by atornado on May 8, 2003, but the company repaired the damage and returned the plant to operations just 53 days later.[1]
On December 6, 2005, General Motors alerted theUnited Auto Workers local 1999 that the plant would be closed in February 2006 as part of cost-saving measures. The last vehicle produced at the plant, a white Chevrolet TrailBlazer EXT, rolled out on February 20, 2006. The Oklahoma City Assembly plant was the first of 12 GM manufacturing plants that GM planned to permanently close by 2008, to match production with market demand. An estimated 521,400GMT360 trucks were built at the Oklahoma City Assembly plant.[2]
TheOklahoma City plant employed 2,400 people — 2,200 hourly and 200 salaried — but economists estimated that as many as 7,500 jobs in the area could be affected, including those at GM suppliers and secondary jobs, like hotel and restaurant workers.
Laid-off employees had the option of retiring or enrolling in GM's Jobs Bank, which allows workers to collect full pay and benefits as they attend classes or volunteer at community agencies. Some workers would continue to be paid through September 2007, when GM'sUAW contract expired.
On May 13, 2008, the voters of Oklahoma County approved the purchase of the plant, which was to be leased to neighboringTinker Air Force Base, which borders the north side of the plant.
35°23′38.97″N97°23′45.25″W / 35.3941583°N 97.3959028°W /35.3941583; -97.3959028
