NEW STANTON, Pa. -- The last Volkswagen Rabbit comes off the assembly line Friday at the automaker's Pennsylvania facility, marking the end of an era -- and umployment for some 300 workers who will lose their jobs to robots.
The plant, located in New Stanton, about 30 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, will shut down for seven weeks in order to gear up for production of a new car, yet to be named.
But some 300 workers will be laid off when the plant reopens and that number may increase to 444 by the end of the year, a company official said.
If the plant returns to two-shift operation, for which it is designed, there will be 888 fewer jobs at the facility. The plant, generally considered a major disappointment since its opening in 1978, has not had a two-shift operation since early 1983.
Robots will replace most of the laid-off workers, with 66 scheduled for installation on the welding line, officials said. The plant will be less automated than its West German counterpart, currently building the European version of the Rabbit's successor.
Slumping Rabbit sales caused the New Stanton facility to cut it workforce almost in half, from 5,700 in 1980 to its current level of 3,000. Declining car sales began in 1982, forcing repeated shutdowns at the plant that year.
Production levels have dropped from 1,040 Rabbits and pickup trucks produced in 1980 to its current 470 so far in 1984. Volkswagen's market share slipped 1.3 percent in 1980, representing 85,000 Rabbits sold by U.S. dealers, officials said.
For its retooling operation, Volkswagen is investing $200 million into the plant this summer, company officials said.
Although the plant has fallen on hard times, Volkswagen of America is on the rebound. The company turned a $41.5 million profit last year, a sharp contrast to a $140 million loss in 1982, officials said.