BOWLING GREEN, KY (CBS) - Employees at the Bowling Green, Kentucky Corvette plant are being hit again by more production shut-downs, layoffs and restructuring at General Motors.

Despite the sports car's popularity, it's not translating into sales. Demand has dropped by fifty percent over the past year.

As the company looks at economical ways to produce cars, assembly lines at the Corvette plant will shut down three times this spring for two weeks at a time. It was already closed for two months at the start of the year.

This means some employees will be off the job for 6 weeks, while others will be off for good. In addition to about 130 indefinite layoffs, the plant plans to cut another 110 workers throughout the year.

Despite the production reduction, company manager Paul Graham says he's encouraged by die-hard Corvette lovers who continue to buy the product during this economic crisis.


Of course now that the govt, will have a hand in running GM, we can look forward to the new C7....a 4 cyl. ZR1 sometime in 2011. That should really up demand.

 

I dont know about the Goverment running things, but with Saturn being dumped and Many Pontiac model being trashed i hope our C7 is not a facelifted Sky. The Corvette never shared its self with any other GM body. It was always its own car. Please let it go the way of the Viper first.

 

These are the same employees that belong to the unions that are bankrupting GM, right?............

 

Sad to say it but your comment might prove to be more fact than fiction.
A few months ago when I first saw the following video I laughed until I cried...but told myself, nationalizing private industry only occurrs in places like Venezuela, Cuba etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAqPMJFaEdY
I now see how wrong I was and how accurate the video is
: ??

 

Make that a 4-cylinder ZR1 that only burns ethanol and is not available in black, has GPS speed control, and must be emissions tested every 3 months.

 

tough times.hopefully things will turn for the better soon

 

And the government is planning to stand behind the warranties of GM and Chrysler. Can you imagine the red tape an owner will have to go through to get a repair covered?

 

i live just outside of detroit and it seems like everyone is louseing there jobs i own a small lawn fert biz and i have seen 70 percent in biz loss this year it is realy bad

 

What did you expect? Low sales and you keep paying employees to sit around and read the newspaper and listen to the radio?

 

Unions aren't the ones bankrupting GM. It was the terrible cars design and execution. GM is basically an upside down Pension fund. The making of cars is now a secondary endeavor.

 

and they keep sending the jobs overseas also

 

How about the execs making high wage and very poor decisions! Maybe they should ask for more money in their private jets. And design more cars like the Aztec.

 

BRAVO.....BRAVO Guys....I do not work for the union but I do work for a OEM brake system supplier to the big 3 and a couple of big name
Japanese automakers as well....while I do pay a bit more for insurance our wages are very compatable with the big 3...I have no pension..but
my 401 is funded well.....by the way I do not fault the auto industry. They were just making what the customers wanted to buy!! and before last summer everyone wanted SUV'S....Now lets but the blame where blame is due!!!! Thanks to everyone who bought home's they could not afford without 10-12 hrs of overtime every week and lets not forget the people who mortaged their home to the hilt and could not afford the make the payments and pay $4 gas and defaulted on their loans.

Sorry, I do not normaly make these kind of statements but I am being put down to 32 hrs next week.....Just shareing the pain..Thanks OBAMA...Upside......MORE CORVETTE seat time!!!!

 

That sucks for those guys, they were part of an american legend!

 

Politics and drama aside, that is a genuinely thoughtful post.

 

All the while they have a car that sells for (excuse me, lists for, and sell for much more) $105,000, and they can't make them fast enough for the people waiting in line to buy them. What is wrong with this picture?

 

You tell me what's wrong when a company outsells 25 other automakers and it's closest competitor in 2008 by 20,000 units (52,700)vs(33,100).sales leader

This is a company that DESERVES to go Bankrupt ?
that isn't building cars people want ?
In 2009 it still beats most other competitors by a mile
even with a 50% drop in sales due mostly to bad press.sales leader

This is happening in conservative Canada where owning a sports car after you get married is almost illegal.
which company is it ???
Toyota, Subaru, Volvo ????? (Volvo sold 958 cars in Canada in 2008)



No It's General Motors. Yah that car company that isn't building cars people want.
So let's cut the crap about Aztek,etc. etc. etc.

General Motors Canadian working payroll 12,000 employees at $300,000,000.00 (million)per year.

General Motors Canadian retired payroll 30,000 former employees at $3,000,000,000,000.00(billion) per year.
Unlike our Wall St. friends it seems GM shared a great deal of it's success witheveryone who invested in the company. My $0.02
They got into trouble because they ran out of credit (like everybody else).
They ran out of credit because Wall St got super greedy and F_ _ _ _D UP !

 

Nothing wrong with your picture with 2 Red Corvettes in Driveway. Attaboy.