GM's unveiling of new car should make Valley proud

When General Motors Corp. officials introduce Cobalt, the automaker's newest offering for the small-car market, to the world's press Monday in Los Angeles, the buzz will certainly be heard in the Mahoning Valley. And we're keeping our fingers crossed for a great first impression.
Why? Because this region's future economic well-being is inextricably tied to General Motors through its Lordstown assembly facility. That's where Cobalt will be built -- by many of the same workers who have been responsible for the success of the Chevrolet Cavalier and the Pontiac Sunfire. The Cavalier has consistently been one of the top sellers in GM's fleet, due in equal measure to attractive pricing and the quality of the workmanship. Driver satisfaction surveys have shown the Cavalier to be in the same class as some of the highest-rated small cars on the market today.
GM's decision to build Cobalt at Lordstown is a testament not only to the plant's ability to put out an exceptional product, but to the success of labor and management in meeting every challenge from top executives in the company's headquarters in Detroit.
Faced with the prospect of not having a product once the Cavalier was phased out, the folks at Lordstown decided that if the successor was not built in the Valley it would not be because of anything they did or did not do. Thus, every production goal for the Cavalier was met, the quality of the car improved by leaps and bounds, and most important, the per-car production cost was reduced to the level that Detroit deemed acceptable.
It was a truly cooperative effort, with labor and management joining forces as never before. And they were rewarded with the decision by GM to let them build Cobalt.
Auspicious occasion
That is why the unveiling Monday at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show is such an auspicious occasion. As Doug Parks, Cobalt chief engineer, says in a front page story today written by Vindicator Business Editor Don Shilling, who is in Los Angeles to report on the festivities, "With Cobalt, we focused on every detail. By selecting the right components and aggressively working on excellent ride and handling characteristics and noise reduction, we've engineered a small car with a truly premium feel."
Or as David Cole, director of the Center for Automotive Research at Ann Arbor, Mich., put it, "It's not just basic transportation, it's basic transportation with a little pizazz."
GM, which plans to have the Cobalt in showrooms next fall as a 2005 model, is demonstrating its faith in the Lordstown assembly complex by using the word premium to not only describe what it will have to offer, but to prepare buyers for the higher price compared with what the Cavalier costs.
In other words, the decision-makers in Detroit have invested more than $500 million to upgrade the Lordstown assembly and fabricating plants because they are confident that a first-class car can be built here.
So are we.
While this week's unveiling is about the car, it won't be long before reporters begin focusing on Cobalt's home. The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber is ready, willing and able to provide them with all the facts about why the Mahoning Valley was chosen by GM. It's a story that must be told.