GM plant remains on hiatus

Staff report

LORDSTOWN

General Motors’ Lords-town plant no longer has a parts shortage, but production remains stopped to ensure the validity of those new parts.

The plant, which produces the Chevrolet Cruze, has been on hiatus since Monday afternoon because of a struts-related “supplier issue.”

“The additional part volume arrived and was analyzed; it was determined that additional part testing is necessary before a production restart can occur,” read a GM statement released Thursday.

Production was set to resume with Thursday night’s third shift, but after further parts testing, it was determined the plant was not ready to begin production of the Cruze.

Strut testing will continue.

It is not yet known when the plant will resume production.

Skilled trades workers still are expected to report to their regular shifts.

The supplier issues also affected production at the Lake Orion, Mich., plant, which manufactures the Buick Verano, a similarly structured vehicle to the Cruze.

The Cruze earlier this year was America’s best-selling car. Through November, GM has sold more than 215,000 of the Lordstown-built compact cars, outpacing Honda and the perennial leader Civic, which has totaled about 200,000 sales.

The Lordstown plant is home to about 4,500 employees.