Valley GM workers, residents can build on Cobalt’s success

Valley GM workers, residents can build on Cobalt’s success

Despite its massive downsizing and $3.3 billion loss in the first quarter of 2008, the General Motors Corp. remains a prime engine in the Mahoning Valley economy.

That’s why the recent spate of positive news about the Lordstown-produced Chevrolet Cobalt infuses our largely lethargic local economy with energy and optimism. The 3,600 workers at the sprawling complex and consumers throughout the region must continue to do their part to ensure the momentum builds.

Clearly, that momentum is strong now.

Sales of the Cobalt increased 25 percent last month over April 2007. As gasoline prices continue to spiral, sales of the fuel-efficient Cobalt will likely accelerate as well. Engine upgrades and other changes have boosted highway ratings on the new Xtra Fuel Economy model to 36 mpg, zooming past such longtime — and foreign owned — leaders as the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.

Too, the Cobalt and its producers have acquired some new-found respect from consumer analysts and GM bigwigs.

Consumer Reports last month awarded the Cobalt its highest rating for cost of ownership. Other respected analysts have sung the praises of its performance, styling and fuel economy.

And just last week, Mark R. LaNeve, GM North America’s vice president, praised the worker-management team in Lordstown for its commitment to building great small cars.

Yet in spite of these local successes, GM’s mounting losses in its North American market must be reversed. Lordstown GM workers and our community can help drive the mammoth automaker toward that end.

Employees at the Lordstown stamping plant, members of United Auto Workers Local 1714, did their part late last week when they ratified a new local agreement with the automaker. In so doing, they avoided a costly strike and a fresh black eye on the Valley’s labor force.

Similarly, we’re counting on members of the GM complex’s larger union — UAW Local 1112 — to hammer out and approve a new labor pact as seamlessly and as quickly as possible.

Such labor harmony will go far toward helping to sway some GM decision-makers to commit a new upgrade of the Cobalt to the Lordstown plant next year. And although the GM brass has already promised continued production here in 2009 and beyond, we’d be particularly pleased if it opted for the proven winner that was first produced here in 2004 and nurtured here ever since. In short, the Cobalt has emerged as a proven winner.

Outsider’s view

Just ask Jack Z. Smith, nationally syndicated columnist from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. In a column last week, Smith extolled the virtues of the Cobalt — its performance, its looks, its price. The Cobalt was Smith’s first purchase of a domestic automobile in 25 years. Like millions of others, Smith had grown weary over the years of poorly constructed and overpriced U.S. vehicles.

For Smith, the Cobalt proved cathartic: “Considering all factors, I believe I probably got more bang for the buck with this car than I would have with some of the Cobalt’s strong small-car competitors built by foreign-based carmakers. That’s something I once thought I’d probably never say.”

Many others clearly share Smith’s sentiments. All of us should work to steer that positive buzz on the Cobalt toward stability and growth for one of the anchor tenants of the Valley economy.