An intriguing twist to the Lordstown plant’s story has emerged. According to a report from The Vindicator, GM may have shot down a proposal to keep the Lordstown plant open for at least another five years with two shifts running.
According to the information, businessman and car dealership owner Bernie Moreno, based in Cleveland, Ohio, presented a plan to purchase thousands of Chevrolet Cruze models per year from GM. The goal was to start a private ride-sharing business of sorts with strict oversight from Moreno’s company. The Cruzes would have made up the fleet of cars. The only catch as part of the deal was that Moreno wanted them sourced from the Lordstown plant in Ohio. GM also builds the sedan and hatchback in Mexico.
According to sources, the deal was not enough to sway GM’s decision to idle the plant this month.
UAW local 1112 president David Green confirmed he met with Moreno and viewed a presentation about the possible deal. Reportedly, the financials were set up and GM was the last piece of the puzzle. It appears GM wasn’t willing and Moreno told The Vindicator he had signed a non-disclosure agreement and could not speak about the rumored proposal. Crucially, it would have kept the Lordstown plant open for the foreseeable future.
A GM spokesperson did not dismiss the rumor but said, “The decision to discontinue the Cruze was made in response to market-related declines in customer demand for passenger cars. We don’t believe this segment is viable for us.”
Indeed, GM has practically culled every sedan it sells, save for the Chevrolet Malibu. The CT6 and Impala will remain in production awhile longer. When the two do exit production, Cadillac will lead GM in sedans.
Comments
150,000 sales/year thrown away. That’s not a small market; we know GM cares only about atp and shareholders now.
Why is it that Honda maintains the civic ,Accord, Toyota keepsthe Corolla but GM can’t stay in the same market? Never hear about them cancelling their vehicles. Now people that are loyal to GM although too few as they suggest, force us to go over to their brand. Not great I my opinion .
Because Barra cannot think for herself. It is like some anal-ist whispered in her ear that she should close plants and drop product lines and she did without giving any rhyme or reason to it.
You replied yourself. Who’d buy a Chevrolet Sonic/Cruze/Malibu instead of a Civic turbo, All new Corolla, all new Camry & Accord? And the hatchback/sedan people are daily bombed with the SUV trend.
“Why is it that Honda maintains the civic ,Accord, Toyota keepsthe Corolla but GM can’t stay in the same market? ”
They simply sell more cars, and therefore can stay in the market longer.
“Never hear about them cancelling their vehicles.”
Echo, Element, FJ Cruiser, Venza, CR-Z, Crosstour, Matrix, Celica……all of Scion.
You’re being selective if you think the Japanese haven’t had to cancel some of their models too as a result of a shifting market.
Blame GM once again for their problems and not the market. Other makers are selling small cars though not in record numbers of course.
GM LLC cares only about the bottom line. They are Hippocrates saying they are steering the future to all electric autonomous (green) vehicles yet they have no problem promoting the cash cow trucks and suv’s. The Cruze is a great vehicle but didn’t make enough profits. That is why GM all but stopped promoting it and directed their attention to the Malibu that brings in more profits. They continue to belittle the public and unfortunately we continue to let them.
They need plants that have flexibility built in.
Look at it this way there is a uniform 25% drop in sales in that segment of cars Honda/toyota can make a living with it GM/Ford cannot.
GM is too busy buying back stock to artificially prop up stock prices to invest in their plants.
I am wondering how this will affect the UAW lawsuit against GM.
This deal based on one person really was a false flag.
First off what if GM orders the parts on this and he fails to pay. Second GM has a ton of Cruze and Malibu’s on dealer lots they could make him a deal on.
The added units built would be low to no profit and only for a limited time.
I see this guy as just strumming up publicity on himself and nothing more.
The plant is a bargaining chip for July. GM and the UAW will sit down and talk and they will either decide to reopen the plant in the future or they will make a deal to keep other plants open if they close it.
I am wagering that they will use this plant in the future and will negotiate a fair deal with the UAW for keeping it open. This way they both win.
Let’s face it they are already looking to sell Oshawa to build Condo’s. That is very telling.
No matter what GM needs time to get a new product for Lordstown should they open it again as there was nothing scheduled nor budgeted to go in there because the. Cruze shut diwn was not planned.