GM to cut 3rd shift at Lordstown, Ohio small-car plant

[GM2004]

GM to cut 3rd shift at Lordstown, Ohio small-car plant

E-mail | Print | | Disable live quotes By John D. Stoll and Jeffrey McCracken
Last Update: 4:55 PM ET Apr 5, 2006


By John D. Stoll and Jeffrey McCracken
DETROIT (MarketWatch) -- General Motors Corp. (GM) will cut the third shift at its Lordstown, Ohio, plant due to lower-than-expected sales of its Chevrolet Cobalt small car.


http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Stor...&siteid=google

[give_it_all_]

Too bad. I wish the Cobalt would sell more.

[Perian]

I'm at a total loss here.

Why not use the extra capacity for an Ion spin-off?

I'm thinking Saturn A-S-T-R-A...

[frenstall]

This is good, Lordstown should never have 3 shifts. The plant has an outrageous number of workers and even with two shifts it still has the capacity to speed up the line to accomodate higher production if needed. Rumours were that the next Ion would goto lordstown but I haven't heard anything since then.

[dindak]

Cobalt is a decent car but the interior compared to the new Civic is just not as nice IMO. GM put the Cobalt out last year but doesn't seem to be making any upgrades or refinements.

[hotrod1949]

That is too bad, but the right move IMO. Cutting production quickly, to levels equal to sales, is so much better than rotating shutdowns to trim inventory.

Produce what you can sell, no fire sale at the end of the model year.

[bcjohnso99]

Originally Posted by dindak

Cobalt is a decent car but the interior compared to the new Civic is just not as nice IMO. GM put the Cobalt out last year but doesn't seem to be making any upgrades or refinements.

I agree that the material quality in the Cobalt is not up to the challenge (I own one and am getting tired of hard plastic, which is starting to squeak at less that 1 year old).

But for design, the dash/center stack is waaaaaaay better than that goofy disaster in the Civic. I also used to own a Civic and have great respect for them but they really f***ed up the current generation. Between the new Civic and the Ridgeline, they have lost my business until they learn what style is...

B.

[69Firebird400]

Weird...I thought Cobalt sales were doing well. They were up 80.1% in March!

See this related thread: Top-20 selling vehicles in U.S. through March

[bone]

Good idea to match production to what is being sold. GM is finally starting to make some good business decisions. Let's hope they do this for all models.

[coaster.n3rd]

Originally Posted by 69Firebird400

Weird...I thought Cobalt sales were doing well. They were up 80.1% in March!

See this related thread: Top-20 selling vehicles in U.S. through March

i thought the same thing, even had an article that said they posted higher sales numbers then foreign or domestic, but it just shows you can't believe everything in print. :shrug:

[GM-10]

It would be nice to see a few improvements

[Hotspur]

Originally Posted by dindak

Cobalt is a decent car but the interior compared to the new Civic is just not as nice IMO. GM put the Cobalt out last year but doesn't seem to be making any upgrades or refinements.

I think the exterior is the real problem. Specifically it looks too much like a Cavalier. GM had the chance to really distance itself from that car, why it chose not to is beyond me. The Cobalt looks dated, uninspired and econobox. The Mazda3 really took this market in a new direction. Honda followed with Civic, and now the Cobalt stands out for all the wrong reasons.

[GM-10]

I think the Coupe is great...I think the sedan could have used some more work.

The tail lamps and rear bumper just look plain and cheap.

[nsap]

The Cobalt is establishing a nice quality record, so now it needs a; new interior, optional navigation system, more aggressive sedan styling, and a more fuel efficient powertrain.

Give it those things, the Lordstown plant would need the 3rd shift.