© 2024 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
News
To contact us with news tips, story ideas or other related information, e-mail newsstaff@ideastream.org.

GM Bankruptcy Filing: Three Ohio plants to Close, More Dealerships to Go But It Could've Been Worse

GM is closing Mansfield Metal Center, shedding 1300 jobs; a parts warehouse in Columbus, eliminating another 80 and Parma's Powertrain unit and it's under 50 jobs. Case Western Reserve University's Sue Helper.

Sue Helper: There are some cuts but I think we're not feeling as bad as some of the other states.

GM also says it will close more dealerships - 2100 nationwide. In a media call, GM CEO Fritz Henderson said the company is hearing appeals.

Fritz Henderson: There aren't to be honest very many reversals of those decisions but nonetheless it's incumbent upon us to look at the facts because in some cases we have made mistakes and we'll correct them.

There is also lots of worry for the estimated 72 thousand Ohioans working for auto suppliers. Bill Gaskin of the Precision Metalforming Association says small suppliers expect to have little cash on hand this summer because of the slowdowns, and may have trouble getting loans when orders pick up.

Bill Gaskin: Restarting is the hard part. It's once you've bottomed out and start to go up the other side that's when small companies get in trouble the most.

And GM's biggest Ohio plant, Lordstown, is still on schedule with the Chevy Cruze. Prototypes of the fuel-efficient sedan are still set to roll off the Lordstown plant late this year.