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Cruze sales up 54% from Nov. ’10
By Karl Henkel
LORDSTOWN
Today is the final day of the General Motors Co. Lordstown plant shutdown for inventory adjustments.
It’s a good thing, too, judging by auto-sales figures released Thursday that showed GM sold 13,238 Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruzes in November, 54 percent more than the 8,066 it sold last November.
“We continue to see positive feedback from consumers,” said Dave Green, president of United Auto Workers Local 1714, who also noted that the plant’s east and west complexes will not have another inventory adjustment shutdown before the end of the year.
Workers are scheduled for a two-week holiday break beginning Dec. 24, Green said, so there’s not much opportunity for another shutdown if the company wants to keep up with production.
The Cruze was No. 3 in the compact-car segment during November, trailing the Honda Civic (17,133 sales) and Toyota Corolla (16,115).
Kristen Andersson, auto analyst at TrueCar.com, said sales of foreign compact cars are taking off, making up for lost time earlier in the year when inventory levels dwindled after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
“I think that is really due to just consumers waiting on the sidelines waiting for the Japanese inventory to return,” she said.
Once this wave passes, she said, much like the run on American-made compact cars this summer, sales totals should find their equilibrium.
“It will basically come down to product and what the consumers want,” she added.
Overall, GM’s sales rose 7 percent in November. Chrysler Group LLC was the month’s big winner; its sales jumped 45 percent. Ford Motor Co. sales increased 13 percent.
Among foreign automakers, Volkswagen AG sales skyrocketed 41 percent; Hyundai Motor Co. sales jumped 22 percent; and Nissan Motor Co. sales increased 19 percent; and Toyota sales climbed 7 percent. Honda sales fell 10 percent.