For thousands of US car industry workers, downturn is already here

Lordstown, Ohio

WALL Street is fretting that the US car industry is heading for a downturn, but for thousands of workers at General Motors Co factories in the US, the hard times are already here.

Matt Streb, 36, was one of 1,200 workers laid off on Jan 20 - inauguration day for Republican US President Donald Trump - when GM cancelled the third shift at its Lordstown small-car factory here. Sales of the Chevrolet Cruze sedan, the only vehicle the plant makes, have nosedived as US consumers switch to SUVs and pickup trucks.