Lansing Car Assembly was a

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

factory in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

. It contained two elements, a 1901 automobile plant in downtown Lansing, and the 1920

Durant Motors Durant Motors Inc. was established in 1921 by former General Motors CEO William "Billy" Durant following his termination by the GM board of directors and the New York bankers who financed GM. Corporate relationships Durant Motors attempted t ...

factory on Lansing's Far Westside. The Lansing plant was the home factory for Oldsmobile, and the longest-operating automobile factory in the United States when it closed on May 6, 2005, and one of General Motors last assembly plants where vehicle bodies were made at one plant, and then trucked to another plant to be finished. General Motors began demolition of the plant in the spring of 2006, and demolition was completed in 2007. A new plant at nearby

Lansing Grand River Assembly Lansing Grand River Assembly (LGR) is a General Motors owned and operated automobile assembly facility located in Lansing, Michigan, United States. Lansing Grand River Assembly produces vehicles built upon the GM Alpha platform including the Cadi ...

, which began production in 2001, as well as the Delta Township called

Lansing Delta Township Assembly Lansing Delta Township Assembly (GM LDT) is a General Motors automobile assembly factory in Delta Township, Michigan on land that is shared by the township and the nearby city of Lansing. It manufactures Chevrolet, and Buick vehicles. Completed i ...

assumed some operations when it began production in 2006. From the 1940s through the 1980s, it was the main producer of full-size

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...

s ( 88 and 98), but by the 1990s it was producing compact cars for several GM divisions.

History

Lansing Car Assembly (LCA) began in 1901 when

Ransom E. Olds Ransom Eli Olds (June 3, 1864 – August 26, 1950) was a pioneer of the American automotive industry, after whom the Oldsmobile and REO brands were named. He claimed to have built his first steam car as early as 1887 and his first gasoline-power ...

moved his Olds Motor Works company to the city. He set up his plant on the site of the

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

grounds next to the Grand River. This plant in downtown Lansing would later be known as Lansing Car Assembly – Chassis Plant. Engine block and cylinder heads were cast at

Saginaw Metal Casting Operations Saginaw Metal Casting Operations is an automobile engine foundry plant in Saginaw, Michigan. Opened under GM management in 1919, the factory produces engine blocks and cylinder heads for General Motors vehicles. The factory currently occupies 1.9 ...

Body shop (plant #6)

The plant along Verlinden Avenue, on Lansing's border with Lansing Township, opened in 1920 as a factory for Durant Motor Works. After the demise of Durant in 1931, the plant remained closed until GM purchased it in 1935. It restarted production for GM's

Fisher Body Fisher Body was an automobile coachbuilder founded by the Fisher brothers in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan. A division of General Motors for many years, in 1984 it was dissolved to form other General Motors divisions. Fisher & Company (originally Allo ...

division, later becoming the

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

–

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

factory. Its final name was Lansing Car Assembly – Body Plant. The last cars that Lansing Car Assembly produced were the

Chevrolet Malibu The Chevrolet Malibu is a mid-size car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet from 1964 to 1983 and again since 1997. The Malibu began as a trim-level of the Chevrolet Chevelle, becoming its own model line in 1978. Originally a rear-wheel-drive ...

Chevrolet Classic General Motors used the Chevrolet Classic nameplate for the following vehicles: * The second generation Chevrolet Corsa, produced in Argentina and Brazil from 2002 to 2016 * The fifth generation Chevrolet Malibu, produced in the United States f ...

Oldsmobile Alero The Oldsmobile Alero is a midsize car that was produced by General Motors for its Oldsmobile division. Introduced in 1998 as a 1999 model, the Alero was the replacement for both the Achieva and Cutlass. The Alero was Oldsmobile's last new model ...

, and

Pontiac Grand Am The Pontiac Grand Am is a mid-size car and later a compact car that was produced by Pontiac. The Grand Am had two separate three-year runs in the 1970s: from 1973 to 1975, and again from 1978 to 1980. It was based on the GM A platform. Productio ...

, which was the final vehicle built there. The plant built the very last

, a 2004 Alero. LCA was regularly ranked among the most productive automobile assembly plants in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. In 2002, it was ranked the number one most productive assembly plant in

by The Harbour Report, the auto industry's leading measurement of plant efficiency.

Main plant (plant #1)

The main plant was located in downtown

, located along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard at the Grand River. It sat on the original site of the Michigan State Fairgrounds. The plant also included the unique "Lansing GM Building 150" which sat in between Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard bridges. It featured two separate assembly lines. Partially completed vehicles were transported by truck from the Body Plant to either the North Line "M" or the South Line "C" for completion. Upon completion, cars were driven off the assembly line and under northbound Martin Luther King, Jr.Boulevard bridge. After final inspection, the cars were placed in staging yards to either be shipped by truck or by rail. The first factory on site opened in 1902 as part of Olds Motor Works, and became part of General Motors when they bought that company out in 1908. The complex was closed in 2005, finally being demolished in 2007. Harbour Consulting rated it as the sixth most efficient auto plant in North America in 2006.Alt URL
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Vehicles produced

Oldsmobile Six The Oldsmobile Six, also known as the Model 53, 54 and 55 (1913-1915) then a brief cancellation until it reappeared as the Model 37, 37A and 37B (1917-1921) was a top level sedan along with the Oldsmobile Series 40 junior vehicle produced by GM's ...

(1913–1921) *

Oldsmobile Model 30 The Oldsmobile Model 30, which continued to be known as the Oldsmobile Six, was built from the 1923 through 1927. Each year it was built, it was given the suffix 30-A, 30-B, 30-C, 30-D and 30-E for the last year of production, all having been man ...

(1923-1927) * Oldsmobile F-Series (1928-1938) *

Oldsmobile L-Series The Oldsmobile L-Series, or the Oldsmobile 8, was built from the 1932 through 1938. Oldsmobile hadn't offered a full-sized luxury flagship since the cancellation of the Oldsmobile Light Eight in 1923, and the Viking upscale companion brand to Old ...

(1928-1938) *

Oldsmobile Series 60 The Series 60 "Special" is a full-size car made by Oldsmobile from the 1939 through the 1948 model years. It was their entry-level model using the GM "A" body platform, giving Oldsmobile an entry level product with more standard features that woul ...

(1938–1948) *

Oldsmobile Series 70 The Oldsmobile Series 70 is a full-size midrange automobile produced by Oldsmobile between the 1939 and 1950 model years. Oldsmobiles of this time period were in an unusual "middle" position in GM's hierarchy of automobile brands. Chevrolet and P ...

(1938–1950) *

Oldsmobile 98 The Oldsmobile 98 (spelled Ninety-Eight from 1952 to 1991, and Ninety Eight from 1992 to 1996) is the full-size flagship model of Oldsmobile that was produced from 1940 until 1942, and then from 1946 to 1996. The name – reflecting a "Series ...

(1940–1984) *

Oldsmobile 88 The Oldsmobile 88 (marketed from 1989 on as the Eighty Eight) is a full-size car that was sold and produced by Oldsmobile from 1949 until 1999. From 1950 until 1974, the 88 was the division's most profitable line, particularly the entry level mod ...

(1949–1984) *

Oldsmobile Cutlass The Oldsmobile Cutlass was a series of automobiles produced by General Motors' Oldsmobile division between 1961 and 1999. At its introduction, the Cutlass was Oldsmobile's entry-level model; it began as a unibody compact car, but saw its greates ...

Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme The Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme is a mid-size car produced by Oldsmobile between 1966 and 1997. It was positioned as a premium offering at the top of the Cutlass range. It began as a trim package, developed its own roofline, and rose during the mi ...

(1961–1984) *

Buick Somerset The Buick Skylark is a passenger car formerly produced by Buick. The model was made in six production runs, during 46 years, over which the car's design varied dramatically due to changing technology, tastes, and new standards implemented over ...

(1985–1987) * Oldsmobile Calais/Cutlass Calais (1985–1991) *

(1985–2005) *

Buick Skylark The Buick Skylark is a passenger car formerly produced by Buick. The model was made in six production runs, during 46 years, over which the car's design varied dramatically due to changing technology, tastes, and new standards implemented over ...

(1986–1998) *

Oldsmobile Achieva The Oldsmobile Achieva is a front-wheel drive compact sedan and coupe that was introduced by Oldsmobile for the 1992 model year. The Achieva was based on the GM N-body platform, which it also shared with its siblings the Pontiac Grand Am and Buick ...

(1992–1998) *

Chevrolet Cavalier The Chevrolet Cavalier is a line of compact cars produced by Chevrolet. Serving as the replacement of the Chevrolet Monza, the Cavalier was the second Chevrolet model line to adopt front-wheel drive. Three versions of the Cavalier have been so ...

coupe (1995–1998) *

(1999–2004) * Chevrolet Malibu/Classic (2001–2005)

References

* {{General Motors factories General Motors factories Economy of Lansing, Michigan Former motor vehicle assembly plants Motor vehicle assembly plants in Michigan 1901 establishments in Michigan 2005 disestablishments in Michigan Industrial buildings completed in 1901 Buildings and structures demolished in 2007