Lackluster demand for several General Motors models has forced the automaker to announce shift cuts at two assembly plants, leading more than 2,000 lost jobs.
It’s unpleasant news for autoworkers in America’s manufacturing heartland, but the General hints that four-wheeled saviors are on the way.
Automotive News reports that a third shift at GM’s Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant is due to disappear, along with a third shift in Lansing, Michigan. Both shifts are scheduled to dry up in mid-January.
Lordstown, which assembles the Chevrolet Cruze, will see 1,202 hourly and 43 salaried jobs cut, while Lansing can expect a loss of 810 hourly and 29 salaried positions. GM’s Lansing plant builds the struggling Cadillac ATS and CTS, as well as the Chevrolet Camaro.
ATS sales have sank since the model’s first full year of production, and October’s U.S. sales tally of 1,593 units is nearly 1,000 units less than the same month in 2015. Sales of the CTS were just a third of the previous October’s tally — the worst month for Cadillac’s mid-sizer this decade. Buoyed by incentives, the Camaro has held its own in recent months.
Year-to-date sales of the Cruze are off last year’s tally, mainly due to the changeover to a new generation of the compact sedan and hatch. Still, recent monthly sales seem healthy. As part of its new sales strategy, GM has also sent fewer vehicles to fleets, preferring instead to focus on higher-profit retail transactions.
GM’s announcement wasn’t all bad news, as the company threw out a cautious fig leaf to displaced autoworkers. The automaker plans to invest $900 million into upgrades at three plants, paving the way for new models it wouldn’t elaborate on. Automotive News claims the cash should benefit the Toledo Transmission Operations plant to the tune of $668 million, while $211 million will go to the Lansing plant. A further $37 million will be invested in GM’s metal-casting plant in Bedford, Indiana.
That cash should help retain 784 jobs.
[Image: General Motors]
Donald Trump, now that you are our president-elect, Make American Automobile Manufacturing Great Again.
Bring back Oldsmobile and Pontiac!
GM is listening. Buyers are waiting.
Reverse displacement tax on any longitudinal mounted engine under 3.0L.
Subsidy on anything over 6.0L.
You have it all wrong. It is all Obuma’s fault.
Hold your horse, kid! President-elect has no authority to do anything. Yet.
Bring back Hupmobile and Stutz! Reopen the textile mills of New England! Start pumping out B-24s from Willow Run! We’ll need this when we go to war with China.
Camaro inventory is around 5 months’ supply. Its production should be totally stopped for 3 months.
related: How is the CTS as a used family vehicle? I saw one – a 2010 – with a 6-speed manual and was interested. Plus the car seems to depreciate like mad so the price wasn’t bad either.
I have a very tall teenage son so legroom back and front is important.
Happy with my 2010. If it has a stick it’s probably the FE3 Performance package. The shocks last 60k but aren’t that expensive and you can DIY the rears easily. You must make sure you get the FE3 shocks…they are monotubes made by Bilstein. Even if the car isn’t FE3, get those shocks…tighter than a relatives’ 535i. Spring rates on all cars are the same and sway bars vary between FE1 and FE2/FE3.
You also want the HID headlights which have a neat swivel feature.
Depreciation is your friend.
If you get RWD only the front rack will be the same ratio as the V and a top shelf variable assist German part. Make sure the engine oil has been changed regularly. Some early AWD cars have had issues, later ones not, or avoid entirely with RWD.
Front wheel bearings and alternators are weak points, but the FWB are cheap to replace.
I got mine at 72k, now have 98k, and are happy. Cruises very well 60-95 and has enough pull to overcome the curb weight. 18-20 mpg, but I’m probably to blame for that.
People expect a CTS to be driven by a slow old person and are oft surprised by the 300 hp. A big four door greyish sedan that with a 6 sec 0-60.
Legroom is fine for my six foot son, except behind six foot me.
Don’t worry, Donald Trump will bring those jobs back with his magic wand…
It’s a tremendous wand, believe me I have no problem in the wand department.
We are about to find out!
Look the snowflakes just keep melting. Michigan helped make President Trump a reality so anything is possible! We can already see the impact President Trump has had on the stock market. Up, up, up it goes!
>> ATS sales have sank [..]
That’s what we call the “Michigan Past Tense” here in the Greater Lansing area.
How very a propos for this article.
Used ATS 20-23k All Day. Nice ones, too. Forget the new price, at that price, a fantastic bargain. Choose your options wisely-there are a lot of off lease versions.
I’ve noticed that prices seem to have gone up on the new Cruze, in addition to it looking like a junior Hyundai. Too bad, because with the addition of the upcoming hatch it’s probably the most comprehensive small car line in the Chevrolet Division since the 1990’s.
I’m sorry to hear my third shift homeys will be laid off at Lordstown, but that shift was tenuous anyway. It was added on during the run of the last body style when pricing made the previous Cruze a great deal. I suspect GM will figure out production to pricing ratios and get these workers back on line. I just don’t know how soon. Happy Holidays, Lansing and Youngstown…
“in addition to it looking like a junior Hyundai. ”
The gen 1 was so distinctive and handsome. In upper trims with alloy wheels, it looked like a more expensive vehicle than it was and did not look out of place in a parking lot of much pricier stuff. You’re right, the new one just looks like something generic and Korean.
“in addition to it looking like a junior Hyundai”
I guess that’s why I like it so much. My friend the Chevy fan, told me he doesn’t, for that same reason.
I liked the Cruze when I visited a Chevy dealer to check them out. The problem is the price of a well-equipped Cruz is $22,000. For that you can get a number of just as well equipped midsized cars.
This was my issue back in 2011 when I looked at a Cruze Eco 6MT. Drove fantastic, unequivocally “German” feeling going down the road, nice relaxed gearing. But they were asking about $19k, which put it squarely into discounted midsize space.