In response to increased consumer demand for the Chevrolet Equinox crossover, General Motors Co. will add a third shift to its plant in Oshawa, Ontario.

Both the Equinox and the GMC Terrain are built in Ingersoll, Ontario at the CAMI plant. There, the body shop will be expanded, with the body assemblies shipped to Oshawa for painting and final assembly.

Scheduled to go active in October, the shift addition at Oshawa will bring 600 workers back to the plant while the CAMI body shop plans to recall all laid off workers and hire 70 additional workers.

The rearrangement in the production capacity and division of labor between the two facilities will have the added advantage of allowing CAMI to make more Terrains.

The announcement was welcome news to dealers who have faced shortages of small crossover models for months. In March, they supply of Equinox units was estimated at 33 days, and the Terrain at 29 according to the Automotive News Data Center. A sixty day supply is considered "normal."

The addition of the increased production capacity has been under consideration since January according to Mark Reuss, president of GM North America. Two other plants that were under consideration were the facilities in Spring Hill, Tennessee and Janesville, Wisconsin.