Rick Wagoner, GM's CEO, announced on August 21 that the company will invest more than $500 million to build the Chevrolet Cruze, an all-new global compact car. The vehicle will be built at its Lordstown, Ohio plant. The Chevy Cruze will be officially unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in a few weeks.
The investment in Lordstown is one of several that have been announced at U.S. plants in the past five years, adding up to over $2 billion total investment in Ohio and more than $20 billion in the U.S. "One of the key reasons for the success of the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 is the Lordstown workforce and the strong partnerships with the UAW and local and state officials," Wagoner said.
"The Cruze will build on the already successful Chevrolet Cobalt, Cobalt XFE and Cobalt SS, all of which are nearly sold out in dealer showrooms," said Ed Peper, GMNA vice president of Chevrolet. "Our dealers are asking for many more Cobalts than we can build."
Chevrolet Cobalt sales are up 16%, year-to-date through July 2008. The car gets 33 miles-per-gallonhighway. The new Cobalt XFE model jumps to 37 miles-per-gallon.
"The Chevrolet Cruze was designed and engineered by our global teams in Europe and Asia Pacific and will be manufactured in those regions in addition to the assembly plant here in Lordstown, Ohio," Wagoner said. "Our goal for the Chevrolet Cruze is to lead in fuel economy in this very competitive car segment." The new Cruze will be launched in Europe and Asia Pacific next year.
