General Motors says it will invest $220m in two Ohio plants. The money is to prepare Lordstown Assembly and Parma Metal Center for production of the second generation Chevrolet Cruze.
The investment in tooling and other equipment at the two northeast Ohio plants will secure 5,000 jobs, GM says. The Lordstown Complex, with support from the metal centre in the Cleveland suburb of Parma, has built over half a million units of the Cruze since production began in September 2010.
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“Thanks to northeast Ohio’s supportive business climate, we’re able to build on a great foundation and steer the Chevrolet Cruze into the next generation,” GM Manufacturing Manager Arvin Jones said.
GM says production timing of the next-generation Cruze will be announced at a later date. The new model is likely to enter production in the second half of 2014 on a new architecture. Sources have spoken of D2XX and D2SC as codenames for the platform.
The Lordstown complex has built more than 14.6 million cars in the 46 years since it opened in April 1966.
In 2011, the Parma Metal Center shipped about 60 million parts and processed more than 1,000 tons of steel a day to serve the majority of GM vehicle lines produced in North America. Parma has more than 1,400 dies and can produce up to 100 million parts a year.
While the Chevy Cruze was not made in the US until two years ago, it has been built elsewhere since 2008. It continues to be manufactured or assembled in South Korea (Gunsan), Russia (Shushary), China (Shanghai), Thailand (Rayong) and India (Halol). A Holden-badged model is made at the Elizabeth plant in South Australia.
Author: Glenn Brooks
