General Motors says its Lordstown plant has been busy cranking out its compact Cruze vehicle, which experienced its best November sales ever. GM says its sales were up 8.3 percent, translating to more than 18,000 Cruzes sold. It snaps a slump in sales that plagued the car maker for a fair part of 2013.
Tom Mock is a spokesman for GM Lordstown, as well as the GM Parma facility…which he says stamps out 100 million parts annually for virtually every vehicle made in North America.
“General Motors has a very strong foothold here in northeast Ohio, and we expect to continue that foothold into 2014,” says Mock.
Meanwhile, Honda reports its sales have been strong, even though they fell short of record levels set last year.
“The Accord for example, its sales are up more than 10 percent this year," says Honda spokesman Ron Lietzke. "The Acura RDX, its sales are up 59 percent. That’s produced at the East Liberty auto plant. And the CRV has also been popular, the top seller in its segment, with sales up 7.5 percent, and that one is made at the East Liberty auto plant.”
East Liberty is one of Honda’s four production plants in Ohio. Lietzke says together, they are expected to produce more than 700,000 vehicles by year’s end.
Meanwhile, Ford reports its November sales were up 9 percent compared to last year, and are its best retail numbers in nearly a decade. Ford operates an engine plant in the Cleveland area.
All three automakers are projected to see significant year-over-year gains in sales by year’s end.