General Motors to Upgrade Lordstown Complex

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). General Motors (NYSE:GM) (Detroit, Michigan) will invest $500 million to renovate its 2.7 million square foot Lordstown Assembly Plant and Lordstown Metal Center to produce their next generation small car. The project includes installing new assembly lines and retooling old ones, refurbishing the on-site stamping plant, and adding a new paint shop. The Assembly Plant located in Lordstown, Ohio builds Chevrolet Cavaliers and Pontiac Sunfires, and employs 4,500 workers. The plant produced approximately 324,000 vehicles in 2001. Lordstown Metal Center supplies stamped sheet metal parts to Lordstown Assembly and other General Motors assembly plants.

Project engineering is being done by SSOE, Incorporated (Toledo, Ohio). A general contractor will be chosen early fourth quarter of 2002, with construction expected to begin before the end of the year. Project completion should be during the fourth quarter of 2003, with production set to begin at the end of 2003 for the 2004 model year. GM has yet to announce the names and details of the new 2004 lines.

General Motors has not decided yet whether or not it will build its small cars on the front drive Delta architecture, but the final decision should come down in September. Overall cost of this program, including the Lordstown renovations detailed here, would be in the $1 billion range.