Analyst: End of the line for GM Lordstown?

LORDSTOWN —  The suspension of contract talks at the Lordstown car plant confirms an industry analyst’s projection that the plant’s future is in jeopardy.

Erich Merkle, an analyst with IRN in Grand Rapids, Mich., said Lordstown is No. 2 on his list of GM plants that are most likely to close. He expects GM to announce two or three plants that will close within about five years.

Merkle studies automakers’ plans for assembly plants to prepare market research reports that are bought by suppliers and manufacturing firms.

The future of Lordstown grew cloudy this week as contract talks that began in early February suddenly stopped.

United Auto Workers Local 1112 told its members in a flier that union officials in Detroit wanted talks suspended so they could look into demands that GM was making at Lordstown. The flier also said that GM has stopped work that was being done to bring a new vehicle to the plant.

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