GM plans downtime for retooling at unnamed plants

Staff report

LORDSTOWN

While General Motors has said there are new plans for retooling downtime at some North American plants, it hasn’t revealed plans for additional downtime at the Lordstown facility.

Ten weeks of downtime at multiple North American plants is planned to prepare for new models, including pickup trucks.

“Starting in January, we have been telling analysts and others that they can expect GM to carry higher truck and crossover inventory in the first half of the year to compensate for product launch-related downtime in the second half,” said Jim Cain, GM spokesman in a statement to The Vindicator. “In other words, we need to build them today because we can’t build all that we expect to need in the second half.”

Automotive News and other publications quoted Alan Batey, GM’s president of North America, discussing inventory levels during the unveiling of the redesigned Buick Enclave at the New York auto show.

“Our inventory is high because we’re going to take 10 weeks out in the back end of the year as we’re modifying our plants, particularly with pickup trucks,” Batey said, according to Automotive News. “If we need to balance supply and demand, we’ll do it.”

Batey did not go into detail about the plant retooling projects planned for later in the year, according to Automotive News.

Car production, Cain said, is being reduced but he could not share any new information about the reduction.

GM Lordstown’s production was cut earlier this year when the third shift ended in January.

In March the plant, where the Chevrolet Cruze is produced, had a three-week production shutdown.

The Detroit automaker has said it will have more downtime at Lordstown this year to align with consumer demand for the Cruze, a compact car.

Car sales have been sliding for years as consumers have become more interested in crossovers and larger vehicles.

“The whole issue of passenger cars is really separate,” Cain said.

Currently, there’s a 99-day supply of Cruzes. Analysts say a healthy inventory level for compact cars is a 60-day supply.