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GM Passes Ford in Plant Efficiency Study
By Jeff Green and Alison Fitzgerald
Detroit, June 13 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. passed Ford Motor Co. as the most efficient U.S.-based automaker in a benchmark annual manufacturing study, while Nissan Motor Co. topped the list for an eighth straight year.
General Motors took an average 26.1 hours to build a vehicle in 2001, about 46 minutes faster than second-largest automaker Ford, according to the latest Harbour & Associates report. Nissan led at 17.92 hours, followed by Japanese rivals Honda Motor Co., Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler was last among big automakers at 30.82 hours.
General Motors' productivity improved last year at the same time the largest automaker improved quality, increased market share and was the only U.S. automaker to earn a profit. Ford and Chrysler had losses and gave up market share to rivals.
``GM has a lot of product momentum and they run better plants,'' said Dan Poole, vice president of equity research at National City Corp., which owns General Motors and Ford shares. ``This is just another piece of statistical evidence that the trouncing is continuing.''
General Motors' Impala sedan factory in Oshawa, Ontario, surpassed Nissan's Smyrna, Tennessee, car plant to become the most efficient in North America, the report said.
``Over the last five years, GM has seen the most improvement of any manufacturer with more than one plant,'' said Ron Harbour, president of the Troy, Michigan-based consulting company that has produced the report since 1989.
Efficiency Study
General Motors and Chrysler were the only automakers to show a combined improvement in productivity in assembly, parts stamping and engine production, the report said. General Motors' overall efficiency rose 4.5 percent, while Chrysler's rose 2.7 percent. Mitsubishi was the most improved automaker specifically for vehicle assembly, cutting its time by 8.6 percent.
Automakers cite the Harbour study as a productivity standard and to motivate employees. The consulting company analyzes production and employment data and interviews workers from every major automaker with factories in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The results in the latest study cover last year.
Mitsubishi's improvement is part of a process started in 1999, Richard Gilligan, the automaker's president and chief operating officer for U.S. manufacturing, said in an interview. The company eliminated 750 jobs and streamlined production at its plant in Normal, Illinois. Mitsubishi now builds 60 cars and trucks an hour, up from 42 in 1998, he said.
``This is a culmination of our turnaround plan,'' Gilligan said, pointing out that Mitsubishi has improved 41 percent in four years. The Illinois factory builds five models.
General Motors' Oshawa plant led the study by churning out vehicles in an average of 16.79 hours. That passed Nissan's Smyrna car factory, last year's leader, which improved to 17.3 hours for 2001 from 17.37 hours in 2000, Harbour said. Ford's Atlanta and Chicago plants where it builds Taurus and Sable model were third and fourth fastest.
Nissan, Toyota and Honda widened their lead in vehicle profitability when compared to General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. The Asian automakers increased market share and added more profitable truck models. Honda was the most profitable at $1,561 a vehicle, while Ford trailed the list with an average loss of $1,913 a vehicle.
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*Retired.
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