Success of Chevrolet’s Cruze is more important than ever

Success of Chevrolet’s Cruze is more important than ever

It’s seems like such a long time ago, but it was only last June that all of the news coming out of the General Motors complex in Lordstown was good news.

General Motors announced that it was aggressively responding to a growing demand for fuel-efficient vehicles, and part of that response was going to be the institution of a third shift at Lordstown to meet the growing demand for the plant’s products, the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5.

It was an almost perfect day, followed quickly by an almost perfect economic storm that washed away the euphoria.

Stimulus checks sent to most taxpayers didn’t send consumers on anticipated spending sprees, the stock market didn’t rally, trillions of dollars in subprime mortgages spurred a crisis that threatened some of the nation’s biggest banks and brokerages and dried up the credit market. The only thing that was falling faster than consumer confidence were gasoline prices. And while relatively cheap gas was a welcome relief for cash-strapped families, it didn’t do what $4 gas did; that is, it didn’t pull small car buyers into auto showrooms.

Drastic cuts

Well before the first anniversary of Rick Wagoner’s announcement of a third shift at Lordstown, the plant will be down to just one shift. The peak hourly workforce of 4,200 will be cut to about 1,400.

The full effect of these job losses won’t be felt on the local economy immediately because laid-off workers will receive unemployment and sub payments equal to 85 percent of their pay. Until those benefits run out, GM workers will be able to afford the necessities of life, but they won’t be splurging. And cities and villages will feel the loss of income tax revenue quickly.

The closest thing to salvation on the horizon is more than a year away, and that’s the new Lordstown product, the Chevrolet Cruze, which was unveiled at Lordstown by Wagoner, GM’s chairman and CEO, in August.

The Cruze was designed to play a central role in the rebuilding of GM’s product line, and work has already begun to alter the plant for the new car.

GM and the Mahoning Valley need the Cruze.

So we will repeat what we have said in the past: The state of Ohio must continue to work closely with General Motors in whatever way is possible to make the Cruze a reality. Congress may have a role to play as well, when U.S. automakers go to Washington, D.C., to make their case for additional loans to tide them over until market conditions change. Developing new models and exploring new technologies are vital to a car company’s survival.

If GM needs more money to bring the Cruze or its electric car, the Volt, to showroom floors, Congress should consider the money an investment in the nation’s future.

Certainly Congress should demand accountability from Detroit’s Big Three. But auto executives working to save their companies shouldn’t become whipping boys for congressmen — primarily Republican and primarily from the South — who show nothing but contempt for the United Auto Workers union and only a little more than contempt for Detroit’s products.