GM Slashes Pickup & SUV Production by 138,000 Units

In what is deemed as one of the biggest one-time production cuts in the past few years, GM announced that it is eliminating one shift at its full-size pickup truck assembly plants in Pontiac, Michicgan; Flint, Michigan; and Oshawa, Ontario; and its full-size SUV assembly plant in Janesville, Wisconsin.

What this means is that GM will produce 88,000 full-size pickups and 50,000 full-size SUVs less than it planned this year. This also means that the General will proceed to layoffs, and even though the American carmaker is still working on the details, it is speculated that approximately 3,500 workers would be laid off.

GM says that this move was necessary in order to bring production in line with market demand as the full-size pickup truck and full-size SUV segments were down (for the whole industry) by 15 and 26 percent, respectively, through the first quarter of 2008. -Continued

“With rising fuel prices, a softening economy, and a downward trend on current and future market demand for full-size trucks, a significant adjustment was needed to align our production with market realities,” said Troy Clarke, president GM North America. “This is a difficult move, but we remain committed to retaining and growing our leadership position in the full-size truck market.”

Clarke noted that with the market shifting toward cars and crossovers, GM is seeing strong sales of the new Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G6, Chevrolet Impala, Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia. He added that the company is continuing to explore options to increase car and crossover production, but there are no changes to car production at this time.