(Corrects current production estimate from AutoForecast to 210,000 from 227,000 in fifth paragraph)
TORONTO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - General Motors (NYSE:GM) Co's GM.N Oshawa plant will do final assembly work on at least 70,000 pick-up trucks a year once investments promised in the company's new labor agreement are complete, according to two sources close to negotiations.
GM reached a tentative labor deal with Unifor, the union that represents its Canadian manufacturing workers, early on Tuesday, saving thousands of jobs at the Oshawa plant, but the two sides declined to say what new vehicle would be produced in Oshawa. Wednesday Reuters reported that the plant would do final assembly of Silverado pick-up trucks using bodies shipped from the GM plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, boosting the automaker's production of the strong-selling model. production volume, crucial to staffing levels at the plant, was not immediately clear. On Thursday, the sources said Oshawa would finish at least 70,000 of the trucks a year once necessary investments were made, and perhaps as many as 80,000.
The plant is on track to produce about 210,000 vehicles this year, according to Joe McCabe, president of AutoForecast Solutions.
A General Motors spokesman declined to comment.