Valley car dealers pumped to sell next-gen Cruze

LORDSTOWN

The Mahoning Valley’s car is in a transitional phase, and that is showing in its sales.

Sales of the Cruze, which is built by 4,500 workers at the General Motors Lordstown Assembly Plant, dropped 58.1 percent year over year in March 2016.

“That just goes to show the marketplace is drying up,” said Glenn Johnson, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, which includes 3,000 GM Lordstown members. “It’s good for our business because when the new [next-generation Cruze] hits, the dealers will be able to pump them out.”

The next-generation Cruze started to ship out to dealers March 21. Many local dealers eagerly awaited the arrival of the new Cruze and had little inventory of the first-generation left to sell.

Columbiana Cadillac Buick Chevrolet was one of those dealerships.

“We came into March with no Cruzes,” said Don Brady, dealership general manager.

Brady was able to buy some from other local dealers and sold some Cruzes last month. Three of the next-generation Cruzes just came in and one already has been sold, and the dealership can’t wait for more.

“They are coming out of the gate with really good leases on them,” Brady said. “It’s going to excite a lot of people.”

Production at the plant is progressing, Johnson said. Today, there’s a Saturday shift scheduled to meet demand.

Read more about the Valley's star car in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.