General Motors is reaching its military arm into Canada, where it hopes to produce vehicles locally.
GM Defense was established in 2017 and its mother company has, since 2009, made a $6 billion investment in the GM Oshawa and GM CAMI plants in southern Ontario. The Oshawa manufacturing facility currently produces the Chevy Silverado 1500 and Chevy Silverado HD.
The U.S. Army’s new Infantry Squad Vehicle, or ISV, is produced by GM Defense at a dedicated GM Defense facility in North Carolina and is based on the Chevy Colorado platform. The brand says that it is well-positioned to meet Canadian defense requirements, so it’s possible that something similar could be in the works for the Great White North.
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“GM’s world-class manufacturing and engineering resources in Canada make this collaboration a natural next step for expanding our global presence,” Steve duMont, GM Defense president, said in a statement. “We have a seamless partnership with GM Canada that will enable us to deliver highly customized solutions to meet the unique requirements of Canadian defense and government customers. We understand that the Canadian military procurement process requires significant investments in country, and we’re confident that GM’s current and future investments will help us meet our Industrial Technological Benefit obligations in support of our Canadian customers.”
There aren’t too many other details available about what vehicles GM plans to build in Canada, but the brand recently attended the Canadian Association of Defense and Security Industries trade show in Ottawa from June 1st to 2nd, so it’s possible we could receive some news about its plans in the near future.
A $214.3 million contract was awarded to GM Defense in 2019 by the U.S. Army to build, field, and sustain the ISV.
