GM’s latest investment a boost for Lordstown assembly plant

Let the good times roll and roll and roll at General Motors’ Lordstown assembly complex that’s producing the top-selling Chevrolet Cruze — including a diesel model — and will soon be building the 2015 version.

This isn’t your father’s Chevrolet (as the TV commercials exclaim), and it certainly isn’t your grandfather’s Lordstown assembly facility (with its labor-management problems of the past.)

The car plant in the Mahoning Valley has become a showpiece for the giant automaker and is being rewarded with continued investment.

GM announced last week it will spend $50 million in the complex as it gears up for the next-generation Cruze, and for the successor to the highly successful compact car.

Given the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been invested in the Lordstown complex, the $50 million would be an accounting error — except for the fact that this isn’t really about the money.

We have long advised local government, business and community leaders to make the region such a good neighbor to the automaker that it has an incentive to keep investing and building new models.

That’s what the $50 million represents: a bright future for the plant with its 4,500 workers, most of whom are members of United Auto Workers locals 1112 or 1714.

And make no mistake about it; the Valley’s workforce is the main reason decision-makers at GM headquarters in Detroit seem so committed to the Lordstown plant. They have proven to be among the best in the auto-manufacturing world, and have demonstrated a willingness to make sacrifices for the good of the company, the plant and this economically challenged region.

Congressman Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, was absolutely right in his assessment of the $50 million investment announced last week.

Ryan, a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, noted that the investment is a “testament to the cutting-edge, innovative work done in Lordstown day in and day out.”

The congressman pointed out that the plant has produced more than 15 million vehicles since it opened its doors in 1966, and that the additional $50 million ensures that “American auto manufacturing will continue to thrive right here in our backyard.”

King of the hill

High-quality, fuel-efficient, affordable cars being built at Lordstown are the envy of other General Motors plants. There’s always a danger to being king of the hill: you’re a target for people wanting to replace you.

That’s why the plant[‘s future cannot be taken for granted, and the Valley can’t assume that General Motors is here for the long haul.

There will be a successor to the Chevrolet Cruze, and it appears it will be built in Lords- town. After all, the company is heavily invested in this region, but that doesn’t mean it won’t walk away if it isn’t confident that the next compact car will be as popular as the Chevrolet Cruze.

We have no doubt that the Lordstown plant, with its experienced workforce and visionary management, will be up to the task of building another winning car.

What does concern us, however, is the crisis that has gripped the company stemming from a major ignition-switch problem. Thirteen deaths have been tied to the problem.

About 2.6 million cars, mainly Chevrolet Cobalts and Saturn Ions, have been recalled for the faulty switch.