jaunty75

We knew this was coming, but it still hurts. Today, March 6, is the last day of production at GM Lordstown. The plant opened in 1966 and made 16 million cars over the years. Final production was the Chevy Cruze.


https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...-close-n980136

OLDSter Ralph

That's an area that needs jobs and the plant will be missed. I just drove by that plant on a trip last May.

Tuffnut

Terrible news, not nice. Is the production moving to mexico?

GM Oshawa is in Ontario and not far behind closing Dec 2019. Production going to Mexico.
from the paper....The General Motors Oshawa facility was once one of the biggest auto assembly plants in the world.
The company has been in Oshawa, Ont., for 100 years.

Jeff

F-85 4-4-2

https://expo.cleveland.com/news/g66l...made-them.html

Check out the picket photo, about halfway down. I can ID many of the cars, except maybe that funny looking 1970 Olds with the rear wing...

anthonyP

Guess it is just the beginning of the end. GM CEO said the money saved will go into Electric & Autonomous Vehicles.

Now it seems the President is backing down to threats by California officials, allowing them to dictate the national transportation policy. The CAFE will rise to the Obama administration's roof raising 52-MPG, and California's national mandate for only 100% Electric Vehicles will be policy.

​​​​​​The availability of gasoline & diesel fuels will slowly be phased out, except for law enforcement and military vehicles, as part of the plan to minimize the country's carbon footprint.

Reportedly, the target date is the end of the following decade - meaning current & classic cars will all be oversize paper weights at that time.

That is unless you decide to have the next level Restomod changes done - removal of the gasoline engine & installation of an electric motor. This type of restoration modification has already begun with foreign classic cars.

Bfg

olds403

Weezer

No, the Cruze is out of production for the market. Looks like GM will only be staying in the mid-size market with the Malibu and Regal. Hamtramck plant got an extension of production for the Impala, LaCrosse, and CT6 thru Jan 2020, then they will close up shop, too. The CT6 is currently the only vehicle that has the Super Cruise feature. Also curious as to the long-term plans for Orion Assembly, which build the Bolt and Sonic, which are not big sellers in the US.

One or more of these plants will probably get allocated production of the next electric / autonomous platform. GM engineers learned a lot from the Volt drivetrain, but now that it's out of production, there is not currently a platform utilizing that drivetrain.

anthonyP

Big oil sees the writing on the wall and is already investing in everything electric. Big oil does not have lobbying power they once had, as seen when they tried to block ethanol additives. Big oil was told back in the 70's by our so-called ally in the Middle East to start finding another revenue as they were going to debase the power of it's neighbors by drastically curtailing and then completely ending use of all oil based gasoline and diesel fuels.

Battenrunner

Fun71

This is one of the things I thought about back when I lived in Texas. Driving long distances was commonplace, and at night, in the rain, with the AC or heater on (headlights, wipers, and AC / heater) would mean limited range, so as you said, OK for folks in a metropolitan area but no bueno for others.

Battenrunner

Koda

The Cruz was the death knell. You don't want to be in a plant that makes a cheap car. Cheap cars are made in cheap places. One challenge faced is that a car company will make a plant in some nowhere place with good road connections and cheap labor. Fast forward 50 years, and the area is now upper middle class, and that cheap car you started with won't cut it. What's worse is putting a cheap car into an established plant. It costs just as much labor to build a cheap car than it does an expensive car, and the materials are maybe 20% more. But, a nice car costs 2x a cheap car. Where does that money go? Back to the plant and to the company. Where do plants that don't make money go, because they make a cheap car in an expensive cost of living area? They close.

76olds

Sad days ahead for all the Auto workers throughout the assembly plants/ local small business. The suffering will be difficult for many.
As to the new junk they want to throw at us, I think many of us don't have to worry or think about it at our ages.
So,
I really don't care what mode of transportation they choose to fill their lots with in the near future, I just hope they are safe enough so that lives wont be lost while engineering them to perfection on the grid.
As for now, I will enjoy my fun pedals until the day comes. Just burn as much fuel as we can to enjoy what we have now.

Eric
.

oldcutlass

The problem is not that GM doesn't want to make cars, the problem is people are not buying them. They prefer trucks, suv's, and crossovers. If your not selling what you make a goo business practice is to stop making them. I believe that something else will go into those plants, its just when?

jaunty75

The newspaper industry isn't faring too well, either, but they're being killed off by the internet. Saw this statistic today.

There were 457,800 workers in the newspaper industry in June 1990, a total that fell to 139,900 by December 2018, a drop of almost 70%. (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics).

1970cs

That's true. The wife and I both drive newer Silverados. It's been nice because we have been driving 4cyl cars for the last decade. Nice to have the V8 power. The only cars we have are the Oldsmobiles.

Pat

anthonyP

Those who are calling the shots do not care about anyone's situation or needs. To them it is either change your lifestyle and routine or do without. Of course, this will not occur overnight, but will be done with one of those "when did this happen?" type of unhurried & snail paced slow transformations.

The bottom line, no matter how long it takes, is to remove the power of oil from targeted countries. Unfortunately, our so-called ally in the Middle East does not give a hoot what effect it has on those in America who involuntarily feeds its coffer.

The first step was mandatory ethanol to immediately lessen use, next will be the end of new gasoline/diesel only fueled vehicles - with only hybrids available. The final step will be the transition from hybrids to full electric only vehicles & the gradual phasing out of available gasoline & diesel fuels to the general public.

rob1960

I've been done with GM ever since they killed off our Oldsmobiles & after their phony "bail out" I really hate them. How sad that they're building the new Blazers in mexico instead retooling Lordstown(or another US plant) & building them here! The Youngstown, Warren area is already sad shape,that's all they needed! I feel for those people but unfortunately they were building a car that just wasn't selling! I was involved in a plant closing(Lorain Oh.) back in '05 & it's so sad to see that last vehicle go down the line with nothing but air behind it knowing it's the end of the road. I work for Ford & when they announced production of the Focus was ending in Michigan due to slow sales, I'm sure they could of easily closed the plant in Wayne, but they retooled it for the new Ranger & soon to come Bronco(I want one!!) Those people there should have a bright future as the new Rangers are selling like crazy! I work at the huge truck plant in Avon Lake Oh. We build all commercial trucks & we're on constant overtime. For a plant that was supposedly closing ever since I hired in 27 yrs ago we now do 3 truck lines E350/450 cab chassis,F350-550s & F650 & F750s. For those not aware we got the F650-750 production back from Mexico in 2014. U-haul has been buying our E series vehicles for over 50 yrs!! Once we got the F650 back in the US, they're buying them like crazy!!! They're first order was for 5000 trucks!! U-haul won't buy anything that's not made here!,Great company!!

anthonyP

I am by no means a fan of Electric or Hybrid vehicles, but just saw this information. Not sure how accurate it is since being claimed by manufacturer:

"Recharging times are one factor behind the slow adoption of EVs in North America (cost, range, and recharging availability being the others), so the automaker plans to ensure their time at the Supercharger station doesn’t go overlong. Expect 75 miles in 5 minutes, Tesla claims."

"Customers can expect a 120kW charge rate at the company’s fill-up stations, but the V3 Supercharging in the process of being rolled out amps up the rate to 250kW. For the owner of a Model 3 Long Range, this means a 75-mile top-up in a scant five minutes — basically, just enough time to have a smoke."

"A full top-up would be a 15-minute proposition, Tesla claims, and the flow of electrons won’t be stemmed by the presence of another Tesla at the neighboring plug. Currently, a pilot station is in operation in the San Francisco Bay area, available to select customers. Regular Tesla drivers will gain the capability in the second quarter of the year, thanks to an over-the-air firmware update. Another 250kW station starts construction in April, and more should come online after the midway point of 2019."

"To maximize the speed of the recharge, the automaker will also roll out On-Route Battery Warmup, which heats the vehicle’s battery to an optimum temperature before the driver arrives at a Supercharger station. Charge times could improve by 25 percent via this update alone, Tesla claims."

Bfg