Lansing Car Assembly was a

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

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

factory in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

. It contained two elements, a 1901 automobile plant in downtown Lansing, and the 1920 Durant Motors 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 an automotive assembly plant in Lansing, Michigan, United States, owned and operated by General Motors. It currently assembles the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 luxury sedans for the North American market. The Lan ...

, 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 (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 produc ...

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. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

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.

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 as the Fisher Body Company by Frederic and Charles Fisher in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan when they absorbed a fledgling autobody maker. By 1916 the concern had grown into one of the world's large ...

division, later becoming the

Buick Buick () is a division (business), division of the Automotive industry in the United States, American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American automobil ...

–

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

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 that was manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet from 1964 to 1983 and from 1997 to 2025. The Malibu began as a trim-level of the Chevrolet Chevelle, becoming its own model line in 1978. Originally a rear-w ...

/ Chevrolet Classic, Oldsmobile Alero, and

Pontiac Grand Am The Pontiac Grand Am is a car model that Pontiac (automobile), Pontiac Division of General Motors produced in various years between 1973 and 2005. The first and second generations were Rear-wheel drive, RWD mid-size cars built on the Pontiac Leman ...

, 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, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. 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 (1913–1921) * Oldsmobile Model 30 (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 Ol ...

(1928-1938) * Viking companion brand (1929-1931) *

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 wou ...

(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 Series 80 (1949–1984) * Oldsmobile Series 90 (1940–1984) * Oldsmobile Cutlass/

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 Oldsmobile Cutlass, Cutlass range. It began as a trim package, developed its own roofline, ...

(1961–1984) * Buick Somerset (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 t ...

(1986–1998) * Oldsmobile Achieva (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 sold, ...

coupe (1995–1998) * Oldsmobile Alero (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