General Motors employees at the Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant fear another round of layoffs are inbound as the UAW announced production at the facility will scale back in mid-July.
GM informed UAW local 1714 President Robert Morales the automaker plans for a shift in production due to market demand, according to local new affiliate WFMJ. The Lordstown plant is home to the 2017 Chevrolet Cruze, which has been a victim of climbing crossover market share in the U.S.
Asked if Lordstown will soon be home to any other product, specifically to capitalize on crossover sales, CNBC analyst Phil LeBeau was doubtful.
“For Lordstown to retool and to become a plant that produces a truck or SUV that would mean a big investment from General Motors, as well as doing it many months in advance and by the time that you would get that production up and running you would have to make sure that you’re fairly confident that the market would be as strong as it is right now when it comes to trucks and SUVs,” said LeBeau.
Lordstown has already been hit hard by lagging Cruze sales. GM cut the third shift at the plant in January, which led to 1,200 layoffs. Local suppliers also felt the ripple effects as layoffs occurred at Lordstown Seating Systems and Comprehensive Logistics.
The layoffs may be a part of GM’s plans to implement 10 weeks of downtime across a handful of U.S. factories. Lordstown was one of the assembly plants listed as a potential candidate for idling.
Comments
I’m tired of crossovers! Cruze is a great car. Far better than first gen.
More advertisement for the Cruze should take on the Japanese car’s sales.
Wow, great thing they built a factory in Mexico and then almost have to shut the one in the US..
I agree, they should not have built that factory in Mexico and then laying off employees at the american factory, but the party at blame is the UAW, the same group that caused the GM bailout. Not to mention that the Union is one of the largest factors in Sears’ demise.
The car is a great car but in a very tough segment and also in a struggling segment.
Also it is missing that thing that really sets it apart.
I am not sure more advertising would make much difference.
The Vot while similar is a little better looking.
Scott3, I agree with you. Not too sure how much advertising would help.
For this segment The Cruze got a huge boost as it was selected as the top Compact car by Consumer Reports…which in this segment helps a lot as most of the ppl in this segment treat this purchase as an appliance.
It seems that even though GM has gotten solid reviews with the Sonic, Cruze, Malibu, and Impala; there is a problem as the sedan market is dropping.
Also agree with you about the Volt looking better than the Cruze
With the restyled lineup…Malibu, Impala and Camaro look great…The Cruze is a decent looking car but something is a bit bland about it and it’s lines.
Well Chevy had a good thing with the last Cruze and should have built on that styling as when you saw it you knew it was a Cruze and most people were good with that.
Chevy needs to take this car and bring that back to where when you see it you are not guessing what it is. The hatch has that going but the sedan not so much.
Also do not get too over the top. Make it look more expensive and not goofy like Honda has gone.
Might add a little Impala like styling to give it a more a look of an Impala and Bu.
Even the Bu as nice as it is needs just something more in the quarter panel area. Just something more like the Impala to give it a more coke bottle shape.
Wheres Trump? Thought he was going to save jobs. Tired of winning yet????
The second Gen Cruze is a fantastic car. I traded my 2013 Civic in. No regrets.
car looks like jap car.
they need to go to one shift and make those people do some work.
lazy workers
put extra money in the plants that build those nice suvs.