The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

August 24, 2012

Cruze staying home in Ohio

GM also plans $200M upgrade

By Michael Roknick Herald Business Editor

LORDSTOWN, Ohio — General Motors Corp. on Thursday committed to making the next version of the Chevrolet Cruze at its plants in Lordstown and Parma, Ohio.

Further, the Detroit automaker said it will spend $200 million to upgrade equipment at the Lordstown plant by 2015 and another $20 million in upgrades at its Parma Metal Center. The center produces parts for the Cruze and other cars and trucks.

The announcement is a major coup for Ohio as collectively the two plants employ about 6,000 workers with about 5,000 of those positions involved in Cruze production. As a result of GM’s announcement, those jobs will now be maintained.

“It’s yet another commitment and a strong vote of confidence by GM in the Lordstown workforce and it’s one that’s well deserved,” GM Manufacturing Manager Arvin Jones said in a news release.

GM didn’t say when the updated Cruze will hit auto dealers, but based on normal production timeframes, the car would likely emerge in the 2014-15 cycle.

Specific changes on the Cruze weren’t divulged but Jones said the new model will offer updated exterior and interior styling, improved fuel economy and an improved interior compartment and more storage space.

Preliminary work to clear space in the body shop at Lordstown has begun.

While the Cruze has been a good seller for GM, sales of the compact sedan slid in 2012. For the first seven months of the year, Cruze sales fell 12.7 percent to 128,838 units. That’s in part due to Japanese automakers dealing with low inventory after 2011’s earthquake and tsunami. Also, GM reduced less-profitable sales of the Cruze to rental fleet businesses.

GM began producing the Cruze at the 6-million-square-foot, Lordstown complex in September 2010. The plant produced 281,820 vehicles in 2011.

United Auto Workers Local 1112 Shop Chairman Ben Strickland and UAW Local 1714 Shop Chairman Will Adams credited the Lordstown team with keeping the car. “The men and women of Lordstown are working hard to keep the Cruze a top-quality small car choice,’’ the men said in a joint statement. “The next-generation of the Cruze is well earned and we are thrilled to be assigned work that will keep good-paying, next-generation UAW jobs in the state of Ohio for years to come.”

The announcement isn’t typical for GM. In the past it has tied plant upgrades to union contract negotiations.

And area politicians were more than happy to talk about the company’s decision.

“I’m ecstatic that the Chevy Cruze will continue to be built in Lordstown,’’ said U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-17th District, Youngstown. “The announcement by General Motors that they will invest $220 million in their Lordstown and Parma plants and will retain over 5,000 jobs is a testament to the hard work and cooperation of both labor and management, who never gave up on the idea of building a great car here in the Mahoning Valley.’’

Since opening in April 1966, the Lordstown complex has built more than 14.6 million cars.

In 2011, the Parma Metal Center shipped about 60 million parts and processed more than 1,000 tons of steel a day to serve the majority of GM vehicle lines produced in North America. Parma has more than 1,400 dies and can produce up to 100 million parts a year.

 

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