On April 29, 2004 the final Oldsmobile drove off the line at General Motors’ Lansing Car Assembly plant.
That dark cherry Alero sedan represented the send-off to a nameplate founded in the city more than a century ago by the son of a machinist.
It was a bitter farewell, the Lansing State Journal reports, but one tempered by the promise of new car industry jobs in Lansing for years to come in the form of new plants making other GM brands.
The Detroit automaker was criticized locally for killing the Oldsmobile division, but it might have turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
GM now has four nameplates, all of which have at least one vehicle built in Lansing: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC.
Source : “Final Oldsmobile rolled off Lansing line 10 years ago”, Detroit Free Press, April 28, 2014.
Also see Laurie Hollinger, “From the Archives: Oldsmobile through the years – Coming in Sunday’s LSJ: A look at the 10 years since the end of Olds”, Lansing State Journal, April 25, 2014.