KEY POINTS
  • After 52 years, the General Motors assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, shuts down Wednesday.
  • The last Chevy Cruze sedan rolled off the line at about 2 p.m. Wednesday, headed to a dealership in Florida.
  • GM's capacity utilization rate in North America was among the worst in the industry at 73 percent.
An exterior view of the GM Lordstown Plant on November 26, 2018 in Lordstown, Ohio.

After 52 years of cranking out more than 16 million new vehicles, the General Motors assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, is shutting down.

The last Chevy Cruze rolled off the line at about 2 p.m. Wednesday — a white sedan headed to a dealership in Florida — leaving thousands of workers to start building new lives as retirees or in new jobs, many in new cities.