Poland - History
General Motors Poland was registered on 31 May 1991. Right from the start the company undertook the rapid development of a network of authorised sales and service stations for the Opel brand. On 28 May 2004, the GM offer in Poland was expanded to include the Chevrolet model range, while in September of the same year General Motors Poland took over the duties of the main importer and distributor of the Saab brand.
General Motors Poland began its production activity in 1994, when the assembly of Opel Astra started in Warsaw, followed by the Vectra model just four years later in 1998. The Warsaw assembly plant ceased its activities in June 2000, after the plant in Gliwice, nota bene one of the most modern GM plants in the world, opened in October 1998 and became the main GM production centre in Poland. GM has invested over EUR 700 million in General Motors Manufacturing Poland and the first model produced in the new state-of-the-art assembly plant was Astra Classic. Modern methods of management and production, highly qualified staff, top quality and care for the environment are the chief elements shaping the success of the investment.
The results in the area of production quality have been validated by detailed reports with testimonials of customers from the most important European markets, as well as opinions of respected certifying bodies. Not surprisingly then, already in 1999 the Gliwice plant was awarded a quality certificate in accordance with the PN-ISO 9002 standard, granted by two independent certification companies: KBA (Kraftfahrt Bundesamt) from Dresden, and PCBC (Polish Centre for Testing and Certification) from Warsaw. Compliance with the abovementioned quality standard was confirmed in the following years (2000 and 2001) during two follow-up audits conducted by the same certifying bodies.
Production in the GMMP plant is always conducted in an environment-conscious manner, applying fully ecological solutions at each stage. An excellent example of this policy is the paint shop, designed and built in compliance with the stringent EU environment protection and work safety standards. Car bodies are covered with a layer of latest-generation lead-free anticorrosive paint. All priming and topcoat car paints are waterborne, which means no emissions of environmentally harmful organic solvent fumes. Moreover, owing to the use of top class painting robots and the presence of a modern sewage plant on-site, the volume of refuse is minimal. In validation of the efforts, in 2002 the plant was awarded certificates confirming the implementation of the "Integrated System of Quality Management and Environmental Protection" according to the international ISO 9001-2001 and ISO 14001 standards.
