New product at Lordstown holds promise for another American success story

New product at Lordstown holds promise for another American success story

General Motors is a global company and its success as a corporation obviously depends on its being able to compete anywhere in the world where cars are sold.

At the same time, there is no car that is more quintessentially American than GM’s Chevrolet. In the post-war boom that defined both the United States and the U.S. auto industry as economic giants, “See the USA in your Chevrolet” was as recognizable a slogan as Nike’s “Just do it” was a generation later. Chevrolets — then and now — had the advantage of being made in the United States in factories that were anchors of their communities.

It remains so in the Mahoning Valley, which was visited Thursday by Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of General Motors, who unofficially unveiled the Chevrolet Cruze, the next product that will roll off the Lordstown assembly line.

Sneak peak

In keeping with the international flavor that is being built into the Cruze, its official unveiling will be at the Paris Motor Show in October. But several hundred people, including state and local politicians, area auto dealers, union officials and retirees, and other guests got a view of a silver-blue prototype that was kept under cover for most of the day.

The new product is good news for the Mahoning Valley, not least of all because it is a good looking vehicle designed to compete in a niche between small and medium sized cars, with a promise that it will get the best mileage in its class.

Wagoner said GM will spend about $350 million to make Lordstown the only North American plant to produce the Cruze. That comes on top of nearly $1 billion in improvements that GM made to Lordstown when the Cobalt was brought on line in 2004. The Cruze will also be manufactured in Europe and Asia Pacific (no more specific locations were provided), meaning that Lordstown, more than ever before will be challenged to compete on international terms.

Both Wagoner and Ed Peper, GM North America vice president of Chevrolet, said they anticipate that the demand for the Cruze will be strong enough to maintain what has become a beefed-up work force at Lordstown.

Because of strong demand for the Chevrolet Cobalt and its Pontiac sister, the G5, a third shift has returned to Lordstown. There are now about 4,600 hourly workers and 400 salaried employees at the plant.

Enormous impact

The plant remains an enormous economic engine for the Mahoning Valley. It represents nearly a half-billion dollars to the local economy in wages, benefits and taxes paid. It supports thousands of additional jobs at various parts, services and transportation providers.

“We are an American company,” Peper told a group of reporters before the unveiling. “We have been producing cars at this plant for 40 years. Ohio has been loyal to General Motors, and GM is loyal to Ohio.”

Those are reassuring words to hear, and doubtless are welcome by Gov. Ted Strickland and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, who have been working with GM. It was also reassuring to hear both GM and United Auto Workers officials at various levels praise each other for demonstrating a spirit of cooperation and a commitment to producing a quality product.

The Cobalt, which now comes in a high-efficiency model that gets 37 miles per gallon on the highway, is GM’s biggest selling model. It and the G5 will continue to be produced at Lordstown until the spring of 2010, when a relatively quick transition to Cruze production will be effected. At that point, the Lordstown plant will have produced about 15 million vehicles. And everyone in the Valley will be hoping that it is poised to produce millions more.