50 YEARS OF ROLLIN’ OUT CARS

Important moments in the General Motors Lordstown Complex’s 50-year history.

February 1956: The first announcement of the General Motors Lordstown plant. It would be GM’s largest assembly plant.

Sept. 29, 1964: GM breaks ground for a new plant at Lordstown.

April 28, 1966: The first car — a 1966 Chevrolet Impala — rolls off the Lordstown assembly line.

February 1970: Van production begins.

May 1970: GM Lordstown gets new car named Vega 2300.

July 1970: Metal fabrication plant opens.

March 1972: Workers go on strike.

March 1981: Production begins on the plant’s longest-running vehicle — the Chevrolet Cavalier.

March 1992: Van production ends.

October 2004: Chevrolet Cobalt launched.

June 2008: Chevrolet Cruze is awarded to Lordstown to replace Cobalt.

Aug. 21, 2008: General Motors Co. announces it will invest more than $500 million in the U.S. to build the Chevrolet Cruze, a new compact car, in Lordstown.

Feb. 23, 2010: Mark Reuss, president of GM North America, announces a third shift at Lordstown.

July 2010: Cruze production begins.

September 2010: Cruze sales start.

July 2011: Cruze becomes best-selling car in America in June, topping the Toyota Camry.

July 28, 2011: Nearly 9,000 attend the first open house at the Lordstown plant since 1986.

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.

July 2013: The Cruze had its best sales month, with 32,871 sales.

September 2014: Cruze gets a facelift.

June 2015: The next-generation Cruze is unveiled in Detroit.

January 2016: Next-generation Cruze production starts.

March 21, 2016: Next-generation Cruze sent out to dealerships.

May 20, 2016: Lordstown plant to open to the community to celebrate 50 years.

Source: The Vindicator archive files