Cruze production cutbacks mean more down time for Lordstown workers

LORDSTOWN

Chevrolet Cruze sales started off the year with an increase, but the production of the compact car has been cut back.

On the same day General Motors announced a 38.9 percent year-over-year increase in Chevrolet Cruze January sales, the automaker also announced there will be several weeks when production is down at the Lordstown plant where the Cruze is made.

“Lordstown Complex employees have been notified that several weeks of production down time have been added to the 2017 build schedule,” a GM spokesman said in an emailed statement to The Vindicator on Wednesday. “We are not commenting on the timing of the down weeks or the impact it may have on the production schedule. This action is being taken to align Cruze production with market demand.”

The planned down weeks are subject to change, the spokesman noted.

Neither Glenn Johnson, president of the United Auto Workers Local 1112, nor Robert Morales, president of the UAW Local 1714, said when the expected down weeks are coming to the plant this year, but they explained the dates are subject to change.

“The market shifts and continues to shift, and we have to make adjustments to meet demand on the car,” said Morales, who represents the plant’s fabrication workers. “They are all subject to change because the market can change.”

This week and next week, the plant is in its transition phase from three shifts down to two.

Read more about the situation in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.