It’s more bad news for the Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant. General Motors will cut the plant’s second shift this summer, which will take up to 1,500 jobs with it.
WKBN 27 reported on the cuts last Friday after officials delivered the news during a plant-wide meeting the same day. According to the report, June 18 will be the first day for the single shift operation.
With the cuts, GM is also offering a $60,000 payout to some employees. Employees present at the meeting said exact information on the buyout will come today.
GM blamed slumping Cruze sales for the continued cuts at Lordstown, though some employees were hopeful that GM will bring a crossover to the plant to fill in the lost production. GM also remained committed to the compact car during the meeting and reiterated that the Cruze represents 36 percent of the segment in sales.
The Lordstown plant has been hit with continued downtime and cutbacks in the past couple of years. Last summer, GM added several weeks of downtime, and the automaker suspended the plant’s third shift in Q1 of 2017. The move took another 1,200 jobs with it.
Comments
This is a sign of the times.
The new Cruze was banked on heavily to fill the capacity at Lordstown. Well it has fallen short and the prospects of the refresh are not going to change much in the CUV climate we are in.
The UAW there has been one of the most cooperative GM has and that is why they got the Cruze in the first place as a reward. Well that reward has not panned out.
I would speculate unless there is a turnaround in the Cruze soon they will move the line to Mexico at some point or a smaller plant. Lordstown is jut too large for a low volume single shift.
If the Union stays cooperative I would expect a high volume CUV coming here at some point. Nothing has been announced or stated but I do not see GM Letting this go on more than another year or two at the most with out making plans for changes.
What they get will just depend on demand and future product plans.
GM needs to make the Cruze with IRS standard. Second, wagon version should be added to gain more sales. Make all engines with port and direct injection to eliminate carbon buildup on intake valves.
If I were a factory worker at a plant that builds cars, I would be scared to death. In March of 2018, GM sold 16,122 Cruzes. Honda, by contrast, sold 32,584 Civics that same month.
GM simply need to put more effort on their sedan lineup.
Right! How about an add campaign for the diesel. Not everybody’s cup of tea but most people don’t even know there is such a thing!
GM needs to add a CUV line ASAP there or it might be Goodnight for that plant. The Cruze is simply not good enough in its segment.
Top Compact car by Consumer Reports….
Too many people have loyalty to Civics and to Corrollas for GM to break through, despite Consumer Reports’ accolades.
GrandAm, I agree.
Best at what?
Engine? Nope
Transmission? Maybe
Driving Dynamics? Nope
Design? Nope
Technology? Nope
Interior Materials? Nope
Model Choices? Nope
Interior Volume? Nope
Lighting Technology? Nope
The Cruze offers A diesel option, 4G Hotspot, and OnStar.
What else does it offer that the competition doesn’t?
it’s an over really good car. and many consumers shop at the compact car level based on what their consumer reports bible states.
Momolos I agree with what you put to an extent, but no matter how great and best at anything a Cruze can be, Civics and Corollas have their reputations.
what is the Corolla Best at? it is definitely not that much “better” than a Cruze.
Corolla does not even have Apple Car Play.
actually most of the cars are not differentiated by much in that segment. Even the “best” at anything is not all that much “better”.
The segment looks at reviews and seeks out what they desire. All the competing cars did a better job listening to their market and have more standard safety features, LED front/rear lighting, soft touch surfaces and better interior materials, etc. Say what you want, but the Cruze is a good car. The Honda and Mazda are great cars for the same price (basically). I wouldn’t choose the new Cruze either – and I currently drive a 2012 LTZ.
Also, good riddance to Lordstown. Their quality has always been questionable. Right down to constant misaligned front ends, squeaks and rattles, etc. I worked at a GM dealership for 10 years and was blown away when I’d park Cobalt/Cruze/Sonics side by side and see the differences far beyond what would be tolerable.
Grand Am is correct. It is a good car but today that is just not enough.
The car segment is in decline and those who are loyal to the car are also inclined to be loyal to the brand too.
On the other hand the CUV segment is going crazy. The segment is really competitive and GM is one of the major players. The key to it is features and interior. GM still has some interior work but they are competitive.
I anticipate the Nox and Terrain will continue to gather momentum.
GM could rebadge a Toyota car and it still will not sell. Well I guess they already proved that.
The time is coming where cars are going to be very limited. Gas is not really a factor with the number of very efficient CUV offerings out there now. It is not like all they have is a Tahoe or Suburban anymore.
Jeep and Ram are single handedly saving FCA with their products and profits not Fiat, Chrysler or Dodge. GMs most profitable division is GMC. That is telling and even if it is a trend it will be like the min van that lasts decades.
Agreed.
The Cruze is just a solid car nothing less and definitely nothing more. That is my point. GM just goes farenough. They refuse to go all in and steal away sales from Honda and Toyota.
And yes you are correct about GM interiors as well. They need to step up the materials used Big Time especially in Chevy cars.
Personally, I think that GM is too focused on differentiating Buick from Chevrolet. Buick gets all the nice, class competitive interiors, while Chevy is intentionally suppressed. I think that GM should allow Chevrolet to compete with Buick. I would rather buy an Impala over a Lacrosse, but I know that GM will never allow the Impala to have a Lacrosse level interior if they decide to refresh it.
I wonder how much they make on the Corolla and Civic? Meanwhile, Toyota can’t develop a creditable full sized pickup and Honda doesn’t even try. GM could do more with the Cruze but I doubt they will.
Or a viable sports car or sporty car, or a large SUV, I could go on and and on……but lets poo poo the Cruze……
What should make those workers even more nervous is GM offering the $60,000 as an early buy out for some of its workers . When GM cuts it’s workforce down to a single shift that cost the company a lot of money .
And it has a ripple effect , the parts suppliers will also have to let people go .
Gm has really never made much money on their small cars and moved production to countries like Mexico where labor costs are cheaper .
If Lordstown is a flex plant there may be hope bringing back the second shift , but it takes time allocating what facility is going to build and how long .
Toyota has for years benefited GM’s lack of building high quality small cars and those customers are very brand loyal .
But GM isn’t alone , Ford has the same problem .
January-March 2018 Chevy sold 82398 Equinox vs 39855 Cruze models in same period, showing market shift to SUVs. Instead of laying off workers why can’t GM build more Equinox at the Cruze plant if possible?