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Lordstown pride shifts into high gear as Cruze shines at show
By Kalea Hall
CLEVELAND
The 4,500 employees of the General Motors Lordstown Assembly Plant may not have all been in the crowd at the Cleveland Auto Show, but their presence still was felt.
That’s because the car they build every day, the Chevrolet Cruze, was strutting its new style on the showroom floor Friday.
“I am excited to see it on display, but I am more excited to see it come down the line,” said Steve Notar Donato, Lordstown plant manager. “It’s been several years in the making for us.”
Chevrolet and United Auto Workers leaders talked to reporters about the success of the Cruze, which is GM’s best-selling car globally, and the future of the compact car.
The Lordstown complex has produced the car since it was launched in the U.S. in 2010. In five years, more than 1.4 million first-generation Cruzes were built at the Lordstown plant.
Since its U.S. launch, the Cruze continually has made headlines for positive reasons.
In June 2011, the Cruze was the first American-made vehicle to lead the compact-car segment in five years.
In March 2013, the Cruze was in the Top 10 of most-sold passenger vehicles, and it was named the best 2013 compact car for families by U.S. News & World Report. In July 2013, the Cruze had its best sales month, with 32,871 sales. In 2014, the momentum for the Cruze continued with the launch of an updated version of the Cruze.
The Cruze has been a top seller at the Austintown Greenwood Chevrolet dealership from the beginning. Last year, the Cruze had a modest year, but sales have picked back up locally, Greg Greenwood of the dealership said.
“The new Cruze, I think, is going to be fantastic because there’s an aggressive pricing stance,” Greenwood said. “It offers the content that is worth $40,000.”
To date the Cruze is sold in more than 40 countries, and also built in other countries, with more than 3.8 million global sales. GM has invested $250,000 to build the next-generation Cruze in Lordstown. The 2016 Cruze was unveiled last summer in Detroit for the world. It was one of the five Chevrolet vehicles to be released. The new Cruze will hit showroom floors in the spring.
The launch of the next-generation Cruze is progressing to hit that time line.
“Every day we are learning new things in our processes,” said Robert Morales, president of UAW Local 1714. “We are trying to get things right the first time.”
Notar Donato said the launch is going “pretty smoothly,” but this is the first time 10,000 parts are coming together as one.
“Our team is responding pretty well,” Notar Donato said. “They are the heart and soul of [the Cruze]. They are pretty fired up about the launch. There’s a lot of energy.”
It brought a sense of pride to see the finished Cruze on stage at the Cleveland Auto Show for Morales, who represents about 1,400 workers in the fabrication side of the plant, and UAW Local 1112 President Glenn Johnson, who represents about 3,000 workers on the assembly side.
“It’s always exciting,” Johnson said of the Cruze’s showcase. “It’s a stunning design. It’s a step up from our current-model Cruze.”
At the auto show Friday, Jim Dimond, Cruze launch engineering manager, highlighted the features of the new Cruze from the enhanced technology to the additional safety features.
“It’s packed with advanced technologies,” Dimond said. “It elevates the compact-car segment.”
The new Cruze also comes with higher fuel efficiency – 42 mpg highway, compared with 35 in the first-generation Cruze. The design of the new Cruze is sleek and sporty with some hints to its Chevy siblings.
Many of the safety features, including lane-keep assist with lane-departure warning and forward-collision alerts with forward-distance indicator, are typically not what customers expect to find in a compact car.
As far as technology, through Chevrolet’s MyLink Infotainment system, a driver can stay connected with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to access navigation, hands-free texting, calling and music.
The Cruze’s pricing starts at $17,495 for the Cruze L Manual transmission and goes up to $23,995 for the Cruze Premier Automatic.
“I am very proud of this product,” Dimond said. “The features you get in this car are the kind of features you expect in a luxury car, but at half the price.”
At the center of the first-generation Cruze’s success and the future success are the Lordstown workers.
Dimond called them key players.
“I have worked alongside them for two years, and I couldn’t be prouder of any team,” Dimond said. “They are focused on quality and making a great car for our customers.”