Cruze Control
LORDSTOWN, Ohio — Motorists on the Ohio Turnpike can see the Lordstown General Motors plant as they cruise by.
It opened in 1966, and the parking lot near the interstate used to be full of cars owned by workers.
The lot hasn't been full for some time, but the company and the community are happy to have 3,500 employees building the car they all hope resurrects GM, one of the nation's Big Three automakers that was bailed out by taxpayer money when the recession hit.
That car is the Chevrolet Cruze, which is sold in more than 60 countries. It is now being manufactured in the United States.
The Cruze is designed to compete in the compact car market against such vehicles as the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla.
On Sept. 24, the Lordstown plant hosted a dealer day when car dealers from the Pittsburgh region, the Altoona-Johnstown region and the Buffalo, N.Y., area traveled to the plant to see how the cars are made and to drive one home.
Alex Mysliviec, a salesman with the Troy Allen dealership in Slippery Rock, got to pick up a fresh-off-the-line Cruze, which is currently looking for an owner.
"It's a great car," he said, adding the drive from Lordstown to Slippery Rock "made me fall in love with the car."
That sentiment has been true for buyers in Europe, Asia, Australia, South America and Africa.
William Bryant, a salesman with Northstar Chevrolet in Moon Township, who also was at the Lordstown event, said he has had buyers researching the Cruze online.
"I even had one gentleman call me and tell me that as soon as we got one in, he wanted to buy it," Bryant said. "It's just a great car, and we really expect it to make itself known in the country."
The design of the Cruze is meant to appeal to drivers under 40 years old, being called sportier than other cars in the class. It ranges from $17,000 to $25,000.
Company officials are excited about the vehicle's miles-per-gallon rating, which averages in the 30s.
The Cruze boasts steering wheel-mounted radio and cruise controls, Bluetooth compatibility, OnStar navigation, mp3 docking, and a USB port.
It has been rated one of the best cars for sound systems with all models coming installed with Pioneer speakers, the top of the line model featuring nine.The Cruze also has 10 airbags for the safety of driver and passenger.Margaret Brooks, GM's product marketing director for small cars, told dealers and media representatives the Cruze is meant to attract drivers who want to give up the SUV as fuel prices increase, but who are not willing to give up on luxury."Then again, items like USB capability and Bluetooth aren't really luxuries anymore. They are things our drivers expect to find in their vehicles," she said.A tour of the Lordstown production line found a change in workers' attitude. They realize as the product changes so, too, do the workers need to update their idea of quality and service to the customer.Don Muth, a United Autoworker union member who originally came from DuBois, Clearfield County, said he and his wife, who is from Sarver originally, said they drove a Cruze this summer to a family reunion in Butler County and "people just loved it."Muth told dealers touring the plant that workers know past attitudes will not cut it when building the Cruze."Anyone at anytime can stop a car from leaving the plant. Each line now works in a team format with each member knowing how to do each job within that team," Muth said of the change in quality control issues.At times the plant chimed with musical tones. Muth said these are alarms calling the heads of each team to work together on a problem on the line.As for the change in attitude, Muth said years ago each worker had to provide his own tools for car assembly and line tools such as hydraulic drills."If one developed a problem, like an oil leak, we'd work with it until the end of our shift and leave. We didn't worry about it," he said.Now, with the plant's change over to the Cruze, all tools are provided by the company and workers are aware that they must help take care of the mechanical tools."If there is a problem, we report it right away to keep everything in shape and the line moving," he said.The plant has a goal to produce more than 400 Cruzes daily."We aren't there yet. We maybe are getting 200 or so done each day with two shifts. We are working hard to learn this car and put it together right," Muth said. "We are really excited about this car and our job in putting it together."
