Next-gen Cruze to be made in Mexico, will not affect Lordstown

March 24, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

DETROIT

Plans to make the Chevrolet Cruze in Mexico will not affect Lordstown production of General Motors’ best-selling car, officials say.

“As far as we are concerned, we are moving forward with our next- generation project,” said Glenn Johnson, head of United Auto Workers Local 1112 at the local plant. “We are able to secure our members’ future.”

The company announced Monday a $350 million investment to produce the Cruze at the Ramos Arizpe manufacturing plant in Coahuila, where the Chevrolet Captiva Sport, Cadillac SRX and Chevrolet Sonic are built.

This investment is part of a $5 billion investment General Motors of Mexico announced in December. The $5 billion investment will take place from 2013 to 2018. The investments primarily will be to modernize and expand manufacturing plants in Toluca, Ramos Arizpe, Silao and San Luis Potosi.

GM’s Ramos Arizpe Complex employs about 4,000 workers across all of its manufacturing facilities, including vehicle assembly, engine, transmission and metal-stamping operations.

Details specific to when the next-generation Cruze will be produced at the Mexico plant were not disclosed.

The Cruze manufactured at the Ramos Arizpe plant will be for the Mexican market, but export details also were not released.

The Cruze is built at 11 GM manufacturing sites around the world. A total of about 3.5 million Cruzes have been produced.

At the Lordstown plant, where about 4,000 are employed, 1.3 million Cruzes have been manufactured since 2009. GM has invested $600 million into the local plant to support the Cruze now and the next-generation Cruze.

“We will continue to build the Cruze sedan and be the primary U.S. supplier” of the vehicle, said Tom Mock, communications manager for the GM Lordstown complex.

Johnson said 122 temporary team members have been retained to assist workers in training, to help prepare for the launch of the next-generation Cruze.

The next-generation Cruze is expected to be unveiled sometime this year.