We can understand that many in the Mahoning Valley found troubling the news this week that sales of

We can understand that many in the Mahoning Valley found troubling the news this week that sales of the Lordstown-manufactured Chevrolet Cruze tumbled 23 percent last month over January 2015 levels. That news, when viewed through the narrow lens of stark numerical data, might lead some to believe that theValley’s largest private employer is on a crash course toward doom and gloom.

But when the big picture is viewed with proper perspective, little indication emerges of sustained trouble for the popularity of the compact car, for the livelihoods of the 4,500 at the plant producing it and for the broader benefits that the model’s five-year success story has produced for the broader economy in our community.

Of its surface, the sales report that showed Cruze sales dropped from xxx in January 2015 to xxx in January 2016 hits hard. But a variety of factors greatly weakens the force of that punch.

First, January traditionally ranks as a slow month for auto sales. And last month’s snowstorm through a wide swath of the eastern United States closed dealerships and prevented tens of thousands of likely sales.

In addition, bargain-basement gasoline prices have motivated many to upsize their vehicle purchases. Sales of larger cars and SUVs showed tremendous gains last year, while compact and subcompact models saw sales figures dwindle.

More importantly, the 2016 Cruze model on showroom floors today represents the end of the first generation of Cruze-making that began about five years ago. Many astute car buyers know that and are putting off their new vehicle purchases until the next-generation Cruze, for which production has just begun in Lordstown, hits the market later this spring.

A cylcical slide in sales traditionally accompanies the end of the line of a given model. Such was the case for the Chevrolet Cavalier and its predecessor the Cobalt when the last models rolled off the assembly line.

Given the positive hype from auto analysts about the quality, performance and design improvements attached to the next-generation Cruze, many expect sales to rebound dramatically once it is available.

What’s more, a few low-sales months does not a trend make. As Glenn Johnson, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112 at the Lordstown plant, put it,”All in all, we are still pleased that our current model sold as well as it did over its lifetime.”

Indeed the Lordstown-stamped car has sold well over more than 1.2 million vehicles in its five-year run, more than its predecessor the Cobalt did in its seven-year run. In its heyday, the car ranked as the top-selling small car in the nation.

The car’s release also comes at a postive time for the company as a whole, which saw a record profit of XX in 2015. It comes at a time of labor harmony in Lordstown where natoinal contracts have been approved and one of two local pacts has won tentative approval.

Profit sharing checks will add about $44 million in economic impact in the Mahonign Valley on top of the greater than $400 million impact the plant produces annually.

so there’s little reason to worry.