Cruze production to be scaled back again

LORDSTOWN

Production of the Chevrolet Cruze will be scaled back once again to adjust with demand.

The cutback will cost jobs at the General Motors Lordstown Assembly Complex, but the amount of jobs is unknown at this time, and likely will be determined over the next several weeks.

“We are impacted by lower demand for passenger cars,” a GM spokesman said. “It’s industry wide. It’s caused us to adjust our production.”

The plant will continue to operate on two shifts, but fewer Cruzes will be produced each day.

Both shifts were informed of the production cutback today. The cutback is expected in mid-July. Production numbers are not released by GM.

A GM spokesman told The Vindicator on Wednesday there’s a 99-day supply of Cruzes. Analysts say a healthy inventory level for compact cars is a 60-day supply.

The plant lost its third shift in January costing 600 jobs on the assembly side and 235 on the fabrication side. Originally, 1,202 hourly workers were expected to be laid off when the third shift was cut, according to the Workers Adjustment Retraining Notification Act filed with the state.