Cruze sales down 17 percent in 2015

LORDSTOWN — The Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruze saw a 17 percent drop in sales in 2015, General Motors said in its sales report released today.

The compact car started to see a drop in sales last year, which was its fifth year on the market.

Its successor, the next-generation Cruze, a sleek, lighter version, will hit dealerships this spring.

The Cruze faces stiff competition both in the compact-car segment and other segments, like the trending compact sport utility.

For the month of December, there were 16,849 Cruzes sales compared to 17,800.

Overall, GM’s four brands – Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac – sold 290,230 vehicles in December 2015, driven by an 8 percent year-over-year increase in retail deliveries and the company’s 26th consecutive month of commercial sales growth.

Total sales were up 6 percent.

For the year, dealers sold 3.1 million GM vehicles, driven by an 8 percent increase in retail deliveries compared with 2014. Total sales were up 5 percent.

For the complete story, read Wednesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com