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Didn't realize that they'd be stopping manufacturing this year. Kinda' sad to see the marquee go; it was just in the past few years that Oldsmobile seemed to find a niche, and start making appeaking cars.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - It's the end of the line for the oldest automotive brand name in the United States. The last Oldsmobile rolled of the line Thursday morning at the Lansing Car Assembly plant, which has produced the venerable vehicles for nearly a century. Employees watched as the last Alero rolled off the assembly line. The last car will feature the signatures of the plant employees on the inside of the hood and be displayed at the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum in Lansing for about four months, said Rebecca Harris, a spokeswoman for General Motors Corp.
Oldsmobile, the brand that pioneered chrome-plated trim and gave drivers the Eighty Eight series, the front-wheel-drive Toronado and the Cutlass, was named for its founder, Ransom E. Olds, who started the Olds Motor Vehicle Co. in Lansing in 1897. It became part of GM in 1908. Of the 35.2 million Oldsmobiles built during the nameplate's existence, more than 14 million were built in Lansing. GM announced in December 2000 it would end production of the struggling Oldsmobile line with the 2004 model year. The Alero is the only remaining vehicle in the brand's once diverse lineup.