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 wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

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, makin ...

. 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, which began production in 2001, as well as the Delta Township called Lansing Delta Township Assembly 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 pro ...

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 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 All ...

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 ...

factory. Its final name was Lansing Car Assembly – Body Plant. The last cars that Lansing Car Assembly produced were the Chevrolet Malibu/ Chevrolet Classic,

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 mode ...

, and Pontiac Grand Am, 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 th ...

. 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 (1923-1927) * Oldsmobile F-Series (1928-1938) * Oldsmobile L-Series (1928-1938) * Oldsmobile Series 60 (1938–1948) * Oldsmobile Series 70 (1938–1950) * Oldsmobile 98 (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 mo ...

(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 (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 t ...

(1985–1987) * Oldsmobile Calais/Cutlass Calais (1985–1991) * Pontiac Grand Am (1985–2005) * Buick Skylark (1986–1998) * Oldsmobile Achieva (1992–1998) * Chevrolet Cavalier 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