General Motors Corp. said Nov. 21 it was closing nine North American plants by 2008 as part of a restructuring plan that will cut 30,000 manufacturing jobs. GM will cease operations at a total of nine assembly, stamping and powertrain facilities and three service and parts operations.
GM said the assembly plants that will close are in Oklahoma City, Lansing, Mich., Spring Hill, Tenn., Doraville, Ga., and Ontario, Canada. A shift also will be removed at a plant in Moraine, Ohio. An engine facility in Flint, Mich., will close, along with a separate powertrain facility in Ontario and metal centers in Lansing and Pittsburgh. Wagoner said GM also will close three service and parts operations facilities. They are in Ypsilanti, Mich., and Portland, Ore. One other site will to be announced later.
The plant closures along with recent reductions in healthcare costs will reduce costs by seven billion dollars by the end of 2006, GM chief executive Rick Wagoner said.
The move will reduce GM's plant capacity to 4.2 million units on a two-shift basis, a 30 percent reduction from 2002 levels, he told employees via teleconference.
"This has been a difficult period for all of us at GM but I'm confident that by working together we can and will get through this," he said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005
