GM LORDSTOWN New car to roll into Valley after first model is built

Plant workers will give engineers feedback on the new car design.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
LORDSTOWN -- The first model of the car that will replace the Chevrolet Cavalier will be built this month, but not in Lordstown.
It will be hand-built over a couple weeks in a Detroit-area design studio, said Maureen Midgley, plant manager of the Lordstown Assembly Plant.
Later this year, GM will bring production of the car to Lordstown, where crews will build test models away from the regular assembly line.
The production workers will give feedback to GM engineers on the assembly process, Midgley said.
Once engineers are satisfied with the design, test models will be built on the regular assembly line. That is expected to begin next spring, Midgley said. GM said last month that it expects to build 585 test models in Lordstown.
The replacement for the Cavalier and its twin, the Pontiac Sunfire, is due in dealers' showrooms in the fall of 2004. GM hasn't released any details on the new car.
What will be first
Midgley said the first model to be built in Detroit will be the four-door version because designers have completed their work on that model. They have been working on a full-size clay model of the car.
They are still working on the two-door model, which will be a sportier edition, Midgley said.
She laughed when asked if she had any photos of the new car, which hasn't been named.
"I haven't been able to show pictures to the work force yet, and I want them to see it first," she said.
The first glimpses of cars often are shown by free-lance photographers who shoot them while they are being tested.
People who have seen the clay models have been impressed, Midgley said. People who prefer sportier models have liked the two-door, and those who like sedans prefer the four-door, she said.
"They are really hitting their demographics. The right people like the right models," she said.
GM is spending more than $550 million to overhaul the assembly plant and adjacent fabrication plant in advance of producing the new models. The plants employ about 7,000 hourly and salaried workers.
Crews are building new docks in the assembly plant and installing new machinery in the body shop.
Also, a construction site for the new paint shop is being readied. This is the most expensive part of the project and the only segment that requires an addition to the plant.
shilling@vindy.com