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Cruze craze extends to GM workers
By Karl Henkel
LORDSTOWN
Anyone who drives by the 6 million square feet of facilities at the General Motors plant on Hallock-Young Road may see a new dynamic in one of the many parking lots.
They’ll see Chevrolet Cruzes, and not just in the parking lot that houses all of the newly minted vehicles.
The employee parking lot.
That’s right, many of the 4,500 employees at the Lordstown East and West plants appear to be catching Cruze fever just like the rest of the nation, which scooped up 21,807 of the compact cars in August.
“It’s sort of something that — our people that build that car — they knew from the beginning that we had a winner,” said Tom Mock, Lordstown spokesman, who said he’s seen an increased number of Cruzes in the GM parking lot as the plant wraps up its first year of Cruze production. “Their predictions are turning out to come true.”
It’s the fifth-straight month that sales have topped 21,000, and August was the fourth-straight month that the Cruze has led the compact-car category, once again topping perennial frontrunners such as the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic.
In August, Cruze sales accounted for 10 percent of GM sales.
“It just goes to show that it’s a car that speaks to consumers,” said Kristen Andersson, auto analyst at TrueCars.com. “The fuel-efficiency aspect is still there, and it’s a vehicle consumers are looking for.”
The car slowly became a hit until April, when it exploded onto the scene and sold 25,160 vehicles that month. Production, which stopped only for a brief two-week vacation in July, has continued at full capacity. Saturday shifts have become the norm at Lordstown, and workers expect to continue weekend work through the rest of the year because of the continuing demand for the car.
“The momentum continues,” Mock said. “It’s not only us rolling it out, its also the acceptance we’re getting from our dealers and our customers.”
GM has sold nearly 170,000 Cruzes since the vehicle’s launch Sept. 8, 2010.
“The Cruze has been a great success story for Chevrolet,” said Alan Batey, U.S. vice president of Chevrolet sales and service. “In less than a year, the Cruze has become one of the most-popular cars on the market, and it is successfully bringing new customers to Chevrolet showrooms.”
Chrysler led auto manufacturers with a 31 percent increase compared to last year. GM’s sales rose 18 percent, Nissan saw a 19 percent uptick and Ford reported an 11 percent increase.
Honda sales fell 24 percent, and Toyota sales dropped 13 percent.