For the second year in a row, General Motors Orion Assembly won the J.D> Power and Associates Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Award.
Plant employees gathered around three Orion-made Chevrolet Sonic vehicles for the presentation Thursday, October 10, the only subcompact assembled in the U.S.
The APEAL award is based off of over 83,000 responses on how gratifying a new vehicle is to drive and own within the first 3 months after purchase. The sonic beat out vehicles by Toyota and Honda, the two companies that have dominated the subcompact segment for more than two years. GM Orion first won the award in 2012 after the Sonic was launched in 2011.
“The work here at Orion will be recognized as some of the best in the company and in the industry,” Gerald Johnson said, GM’s North American Manufacturing Vice President. “It’s a true testament of how hard the folks work in this plant day in and day out. It’s a proud history but even a brighter future here in Orion,” he said.
Both GM and the United Auto Workers Union developed a mission statement “Build It Like We Own It” to ensure each vehicle is of the highest quality possible, Steve Brock, plant manager of Orion Assembly, said.
“We at the UAW have always maintained that quality is the main issue,” said Pat Sweeny, President of UAW Local 5960. “I want to give kudos to GM for proving that we can build a small car competitively in America and also applaud the workers and the leaders in this plant for making that possible.”