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GM-Lordstown ramps down, final Cruze on line

While it was not unexpected, the Lordstown-built Chevy Cruze still was noticeably absent from the large Chevrolet exhibit at this year’s Cleveland Auto Show that wraps up today at the I-X Center.

The final Cruze to come off the Lordstown Assembly line moved from the complex’s stamping plant Friday, containing cardboard signs handwritten in black marker identifying the small sedan simply as “The Last Cruze.”

The sad spectacle will mark the end of a 52-year era that we all wanted to believe never would happen.

The freshly stamped metal frame next will move into the Lordstown assembly plant this week, to paint and trim shops and then to chassis. The car is expected to be completed early Wednesday, a few days ahead of schedule.

What a testament to the efficiency of the local workforce who — knowing their good-paying jobs were about to end — still worked hard and fast moving new cars through the line.

In the years before moving into my current role as Tribune Chronicle editor, I relished my position as this newspaper’s business editor. It was a good time for the Mahoning Valley and month after month, I got to report stories about the hot-selling Cruze topping GM sales figures.

Just over four years ago, GM corporate executives boasted about the small car’s adaptability to cater to the demands of nearly every market in the world. That was just after the 3 millionth Cruze was sold worldwide in August 2014. (Of course, not all those cars were made in Lordstown, but for certain, hundreds of thousands of them were.)

A story released at that time by the GM media relations department said this: The best-selling Chevrolet model crossed the milestone this month, just 16 months after selling its 2 millionth model. From the U.S. and Canada, to Laos and the Philippines, to Lebanon and Qatar, the Cruze has proved itself a global player among small cars.

“The Cruze is an extremely adaptable car that can cater to the demands of nearly every market in the world,” said Alan Batey, GM executive vice president of Global Chevrolet. “It is a testament to Chevrolet’s global focus and capabilities to offer a car that is so highly regarded in so many places.”

How fast things change.

Only General Motors executives now know the future for the sprawling plant here. Some community members are pessimistic about its future, but others haven’t given up yet, believing the upcoming contract negotiations with United Auto Workers will make all the difference.

Days after the plant’s idling was first announced, Dave Green, president of UAW Local 1112, worked to keep his union membership together, despite acknowledging the news was a “shot in the gut.”

He called for optimism, stressed belief in the “Drive it Home” campaign and hope for a new product here.

Since then, local, state and federal level elected officials, economic development experts and “Drive it Home” campaign representatives have bombarded GM CEO Mary Barra with letters, emails, meetings and even Valentine’s Day candy.

They visited the statehouse in Columbus, the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and the GM headquarters in Detroit for rallies and meetings.

And they have prayed.

While I have heard many local folks rant they never again will buy a GM product, others have taken a different path, sending a message by purchasing new GM autos, hoping to signal that we still value and want GM here.

That’s the avenue my husband and I took just last week when we purchased one of the last remaining new Chevy Cruzes at one of our Trumbull County dealerships.

We hope we’ve done our small part in sending that message to GM. But if it’s not meant to be, at the end of the day, we can rest easy that we bought a good car that was built by local workers here in our hometown.

blinert@tribtoday.com

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