GM cuts second shift, hundreds of jobs at Ohio plant

April 13 (UPI) -- General Motors announced Friday it is cutting the second shift at a plant in Ohio, affecting up to 1,500 jobs due to declining Chevrolet Cruze sales.

It is the second job cut at the GM Lordstown Assembly Complex in less than a year and a half. The second shift will end June 15, and single-shift production was expected to begin June 18.

The plant, which only produces the Cruze sedan, employs 3,000 people -- the exact number of people who will lose their jobs is unclear.

GM laid off several hundred people in January 2017 when it ended the third shift at the facility.

Car sales are down 13.2 percent overall and GM sold 184,000 Cruzes in 2017, down 32 percent from four years previous.

GM came under fire from President Donald Trump in January after it announced it would move some production of the Cruze to an existing plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, to help supplement production at Lordstown.

"Cruze vehicles are continuing to arrive in dealers across the U.S. and Canada, and we expect that dealer inventories will increase this month," GM said in a statement at the time.