General Motors Company (GM) announced that it will resume production of Cruze compact cars at its Lordstown, Ohio plant. The company halted production at the plant from the beginning of this week due to a supplier issue.
The Lordstown plant has been opened in 1966 with three facilities – vehicle assembly, metal center and paint shop. It is currently operating on a three-shift schedule with approximately 4,500 employees.
Last month, GM’s sales grew 6.9% to 180,402 vehicles, driven by strong demand for both cars and trucks. Sales of the Silverado pickup truck surged 33.7%, while that of Tahoe SUV soared 32.8%. Meanwhile, sales of Cruze compact car jumped 64.1%.
The Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) company posted an 11% decline in profit to $1.74 billion in the third quarter of the year from $1.96 billion in the same quarter of 2011. Nevertheless, on a per share basis, the profit of $1.03 was higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 99 cents and compared with $1.20 in the third quarter of 2010. The decline in profit was attributable to lower interest income and other non operating income (net), loss on extinguishment of debt and income tax expense.
Meanwhile, GM’s cross town rival Ford Motor Co. (F) posted a $66 million or 3.5% fall in profit to $1.85 billion in the third quarter of the year from $1.91 billion in the same quarter of prior year. However, on per share basis, earnings were 46 cents versus 48 cents a year ago, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 44 cents. The decline in profit was attributable to fall in commodity prices and anticipated reductions in Financial Services results.
