BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) -- For Bob Parcell, working for General Motors is more than a job -- it's a family tradition.

Parcell’s father worked for the automaker for 30 years and his uncle for 10 years. Parcell started working for GM as a co-op student in 1979 and now has a dream job -- working with Corvettes. Parcell is the new plant manager of the General Motors Bowling Green Assembly Plant. He started the job this week, taking over for former manager Paul Graham, who was reassigned to a GM plant in Texas.

"I love cars. I enjoy waking up early and coming in to the factory," Parcell said. "I liken manufacturing to sports. It’s the only occupation, other than sports, where you leave at the end of the day and know if you won or lost." Parcell landed the local job after getting a phone call about the open position. Parcell's last assignment -- president of Cami Automotive, a joint venture between GM and Suzuki in Canada -- was coming to an end and he decided to seek the Bowling Green job.

"It’s the Corvette -- it's a dream vehicle for a lot of people," he said. "It lends itself to a certain buyer out there that’s always going to be there." This is the eighth plant Parcell has worked at, but he’s coming to Bowling Green in the midst of tough times for the auto industry. General Motors has struggled with financial problems this year, shuttering plants, laying off workers and filing for bankruptcy. The local plant has closed periodically over the past year, laid off employees and ended production of the Cadillac XLR.

And while some experts say the recession is tapering, high unemployment rates and poor consumer confidence continue to plague the economy.

"We still need to weather the storm a bit," Parcell said. "People are still a little tight with their purse strings."

Parcell said he plans to keep workers focused on what they can control: well-built, quality vehicles and plant safety.

"I’ll spend a lot of time on the floor, one-on-one with the employees," he said. "Every place I’ve been, I put a little Bob Parcell spin (on it)." Parcell’s top priority is safety at the plant. His second most important task is building quality vehicles: "That’s what makes or breaks you," he said. He also plans to implement a few maintenance changes.

The Bowling Green plant is "a little long in the tooth. It’s an older facility," he said. "There are some things we can do to brighten it up a bit, make it more of a morale booster." Some of those tasks include improving lighting and keeping equipment and materials in their proper places, he said.

And, if he has to announce further layoffs, he will deliver the news as soon as possible and be up front with his workers.

"The only way to deal with that kind of stuff is to be open and communicate with the people," he said.

As plant manager, Parcell’s job is to help workers get the job done. He’s in charge of grooming employees, finding and keeping good talent and making sure the plant produces high-quality vehicles. "How that happens on a day-to-day basis is different," Parcell said. "It’s not a 9-to-5 job."

Parcell will be the sixth manager at the local plant, said Eldon Renaud, president of the local United Auto Workers union.

"I’ve worked with each one of them," he said. "Hopefully they can provide all the help from Detroit that we need to keep going even in tough times ... the most important thing is the working relationship with the people." A new plant manager is a big transition for some employees. Graham’s departure surprised some workers, who were used to a longtime plant manager -- Graham’s predecessor, Wil Cooksey, was plant manager for 14 years before retiring in 2008. "It’s been a little more difficult because so many plant managers were moved this year," he said. "It wasn’t one they moved ... they just moved (about) all within the system." This week, Parcell is meeting with the plant workers and getting familiar with the plant. He’s also excited to meet dedicated Corvette customers, he said. At Cami, Parcell helped launch the redesigned Chevrolet Equinox and the GMC Terrain, cutting-edge SUVs that "dealers cannot keep in showrooms right now," he said.

Parcell said he hopes to interact with Corvette designers and relay customers’ ideas to the design team.

"Five, 10 years from now, I think the Corvette will be the iconic vehicle it always has been," he said. "There’s going to be a lot of pent up demand when things turn around."