GM Lordstown natural choice for diesel version of the Cruze

There is no arguing with suc- cess — which is why we aren’t surprised that General Motors Co. has chosen its Lordstown plant to build the diesel version of the top-selling Chevrolet Cruze. When the first Cruze rolled off the assembly line a year ago, no one could have predicted that the 212,019 units sold would make it the best-selling compact car in the nation.

The technologically advanced, high efficiency, top quality vehicle has taken America by storm, so it wasn’t exactly a leap of faith for the executives in Detroit to make the Lordstown facility home for the diesel Cruze. GM will invest $5.5 million to modify both the stamping plant and body shop for the engine.

Offline work will begin sometime in November, while validation tests will occur next year. Sales of the new car will start in 2013.

Earlier this month, after members of the United Auto Workers’ two locals, 1112 and 1714, voted overwhelmingly for the national contract, we noted in this space that the success of the Cruze, the willingness of the unions to quickly and strongly embrace the new contract, and the strong labor-management relationship make Lordstown the ideal choice for future products.

GM has invested more than a billion dollars upgrading its manufacturing facility, and that investment has paid off in spades. The predecessor to the Cruze, the Chevrolet Cobalt, was another top-selling compact car. It had replaced the highly successful Chevrolet Cavalier.

With such a glowing history, it would have been foolhardy for GM’s decision-makers not to build the diesel Cruze in the same plant that’s churning out the popular Cruze.

In the editorial earlier this month, we also suggested there would no shortage of politicians waiting to take a bow for the company’s decision on the diesel. The politicians, including Gov. John Kasich, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and U.S. Sen Sherrod Brown, did applaud GM’s action and had high praise for the Lordstown plant. But, they refrained from claiming credit. It’s a good thing that they held back, because the people of the Mahoning Valley are expecting officials in Columbus and Washington to do more — in the form of money, that is —than simply pay lip service to this region.

Auto czar’s view

The $5.5 million investment by GM is important, but a comment from the new national auto czar, Jay Williams, leads us to believe the Lordstown plant could be in line for significant investment in the future.

Williams, Youngstown’s former mayor, was at GM’s Lake Orion plant a week ago with President Obama and said Lordstown is “well regarded throughout the GM family and industry.” He told The Vindicator’s business writer, Karl Henkel, that he “wouldn’t be surprised if in the future, an additional investment is announced.”

That’s where the politicians would come in. Their offer to GM of state and federal economic incentives to help the company put any other plans on a fast track would be worthy of a bow.