Special to the Salem News
LORDSTOWN -The retooled GM Lordstown plant would have a new global platform that the company will use to build many vehicles besides the Cruze, Reuters reported, citing unidentified industry sources.
That does not mean Lordstown would build any vehicle other than the Cruze.
The General Motors Lordstown Complex will receive a $200 million makeover for a redesigned Chevrolet Cruze, union and company officials announced this afternoon.
The company will retool the entire plant and completely redesign the Cruze for the 2015 model year. No start date on the plant remodeling was announced, nor were any details of what the new Cruze would look like revealed.
Reuters reported that the retooled plant will use the same global platform that will be used to construct the Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Equinox, Opel Astra, Buick Verano, GMC Terrain and the Cadillac ELR hybrid.
``This is a strong commitment to Lordstown and the Parma plants,'' Arvin Jones, GM Manufacturing manager said.
``Lordstown is a very good operation,'' he said.
GM will also invest $20 million in its Parma stamping plant, the union announced. This decision will retain 5,000 jobs in Northeast Ohio, including approximately 4,200 in Lordstown.
``This is strong evidence that we are on the right track in Lordstown and it was exactly the right place to build the Cruze and to build its next generation,'' Jones said. ``This will pay huge dividends for the company, its customers and the people of northeast Ohio.''
Jones said the new model would offer new exterior and interior styling, improved fuel economy and an improved interior compartment and more storage space. Preliminary work to clear space in the body shop at Lordstown has begun.
