LORDSTOWN GM says decision is likely by Sept.

GM officials understand the delays are causing anxiety in the Mahoning Valley, a corporate spokesman said.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
LORDSTOWN -- A key General Motors official said she hopes a decision on whether to bring a new small-car line to the Lordstown Assembly Plant can be made by the end of summer.
Lori Queen, vehicle line executive for small cars, said she is close to having a plan for replacing the Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire that she can commit to. That plan still will need approval from corporate executives and the GM board of directors.
Small-car officials have been focusing recently on launching new Saturn models and upgrading the Cavalier and Sunfire for 2003, she said. Once those launches are under way, the team will put its focus back on the new models for the Lordstown plant, she said.
The plan would bring about $500 million in remodeling and equipment upgrades to the 4,700-employee plant in Lordstown. The overall project cost would be about $1 billion.
The challenge
GM has been struggling for years in trying to find ways to make the new small-car models profitably so that expense could be justified.
Queen said GM officials were not convinced that previous plans to replace the Cavalier and Sunfire would make money, so they were not approved.
She said that when she assumed her position in September, a new plan had been developed, but much work needed to be done on it.
Her team has spent the past nine months refining the business case, including looking at content, pricing and styling.
Dan Flores, a GM spokesman for small cars, said GM officials understand the anxiety this work has caused in the Mahoning Valley.
"The business case has been ongoing for some time. Understandably, that has driven a lot of anticipation among employees and the community," he said.
Project slowed
GM and union officials had said a decision was expected last year because they planned to build the current Cavalier and Sunfire models in Lordstown only until 2004.
Union officials at the plant said they were encouraged that the plan was moving forward again by new developments earlier this year. In January, engineering executives who are experienced in preparing plants for new vehicles were appointed to the plant, and the union and company reached an agreement in March on engineering specifications for the plant remodeling.
GM already has lined up labor contracts and tax incentives as part of its business case.
Delta platform
The plan includes GM using the Delta platform, which is one of several new vehicle architectures that has been developed. GM has cut costs in recent years by consolidating the number of platforms that it bases its cars on. The first Delta vehicle is to be the Saturn Ion, which is due out this fall.
Queen said GM decided a while back that it would perform a major upgrade on the 2003 Cavalier and Sunfire because the vehicles were aging. The current models were launched for the 1995 model year.
She said the new Cavalier styling, which will be unveiled in a couple weeks, has significant changes to the front and rear as part of GM's attempts to bring common elements to its brands. The Sunfire styling, which was unveiled recently, has elements to make it look more aggressive and sporty.
GM also has improved the ride and handling of the cars and upgraded the engine in order to improve the quality of the cars.
The quality of cars built at Lordstown improved 24 percent, according to the J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Survey just released. Queen said she expects a larger improvement next year because of the 2003 model changes.
shilling@vindy.com