GM Lordstown to shut down for 5 days

By Karl Henkel | November 11, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

LORDSTOWN

Workers at the General Motors Co. Lordstown plant will take a one-week break later this month.

Jim Graham, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, said the plant will cease production for a five-day period beginning Nov. 28 for an inventory readjustment.

There currently are about 67 days of inventory for the Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruze, higher than the 60-day average industry standard.

Kristen Andersson, auto analyst at TrueCar.com, said the yearlong inventory high for the Cruze was 73 days.

Lower sales figures and a slow car-buying season led to the shutdown decision, Graham said.

“It’s a really slow season right now for sales,” he said. “We don’t want the inventory to build up.”

In October, GM sold 14,295 Cruzes; it produced 26,717.

“They’re just bringing the inventory levels back in line with where GM wants them to be,” Andersson said. “They’re just adjusting it for the end of the year.”

To compare, the Cruze had a 31-day inventory in April, a month in which GM sold 25,160, nearly matching the 26,184 cars it produced.

That was 7,142 more than it sold the previous month, representing a 265-vehicle-per-day jump.

The average Cruze inventory level for 2011 is 42 days, Andersson said.

Graham says readjustment breaks at Lordstown have happened frequently, even more so when past-produced cars weren’t selling well.

Most of Lordstown’s approximately 4,500 workers will be off and will receive unemployment benefits during the off week, Graham said.

Saturday shifts, which were a common occurrence most of the summer, also will cease until the end of April, Graham estimated.

“That’s when it picks back up,” he said. “Just like clockwork.”