Lordstown GM Plant Shutdown

[Towntalk]

Three points

The Cobalt line will be going down in preperation for the new car.

The plant will be down for 6 to 8 weeks.

GM has already made it clear that there will be across the board layoffs.

Add to that the layoffs of the suppliers to GM that are located in or near Lordstown, and that on top of all the prior layoffs that the suppliers have already made such as at Lear Seating Corp.

From WYTV News:

When GM shuts down Lordstown production for an extended period of time, it could be a slow summer for several suppliers who sit in the shadow of the big plant-- many of them already working with reduced staffs.

"Right now we have, the majority of our people are laid off, we have one shift working, we have approximately 30 hourly people in there", says Rich Rankin, Shop Chairman of Lear Corporation Lordstown.

Lear Corporation builds seats for the Pontiac Solstace and Saturn Sky.  They also make headliners for the G-5 and Cobalt built at Lordstown.  Rankin says,

"Everybody's kind of in a wait-and-see mode, everybody's nervous, they're very concerned about what's going to happen with their future, short-term and long-term."

Like Lear, Magna is making seats with just one shift, the former Intier Automotive went from 210 workers down to 68 since January.

These suppliers are directly affected by what happens to GM, mirroring the same kinds of cuts and stockpiles of inventory.

"We're a 'just in time' company so we build, we get cues from GM, and we build as needed.", explains Rankin.

The workers aren't just part of GM's supply chain, they're families who live in the Village of Lordstown.

"For every job in that plant there are eight or nine jobs elsewhere either in the community, providing services, or stores, the supermarkets, whatever", says David Cole with Centers for Automotive Research.

Which is why Rankin says more help has to come from Washington.

"They need to stop the bleeding immediately, we can't wait any longer, it's just killing us."

[northside lurker]

I wouldn't be too concerned.  The reason the G6 and Cobalt were made at the same location is because they were, essentially, the same car.  So, IMO, instead of making 1 G6 for every 4 Cobalts, (just pulling #'s out of thin air, here) they will now just make 5 Cobalts.

[Towntalk]

The news is even worse:

Bad News For Valley

GM to pull the plug on Pontiac

http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/24/autos/pontiac_obit/

The Pontiac G8 is made at Lordstown.

[Towntalk]

GM confirms plant shutdowns

http://www.freep.com/article/20090423/BUSINESS01/90423062/1210/BUSINESS/GM+confirms+plant+shutdowns


PLANT SHUTDOWNS

The following is a list from GM of the new production changes in the United States:

Lordstown, Ohio (Chevy Cobalt, Pontiac G5)
• Add down weeks of 6/01, 6/08 and 6/15