Breaking: GM temporary shutting down of 13 plants is official, to cut production by 190,000 units

[RB TexLa]

AP news alert on it being officially announced.



By TERRY BOX / The Dallas Morning News
[e-mail]
General Motors officials informed workers at the Arlington assembly plant this morning that the plant will close May 11 for a nine-week period because of bloated car and truck inventories.

The 2,400 workers at the plant will return to work on July 13, said Enrique “JR” Flores Jr., president of United Auto Worker Local 276.

GM is closing most of its factories for nine weeks as slow sales in the auto industry persist. Industry sales were down 38.6 percent last month, the sixth straight month for falling sales.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/0424dnbusgmclosings.1032ca034.html

The automaker will reportedly close most of its plants in the United States for several weeks.

Wired PR News – General Motors is reportedly planning to temporarily close most of its plants in the US during the summer. As reported by the Associated Press (AP), the automaker giant will close the plants for up to nine weeks due to declining sales and an increase in inventories of a number of vehicles that are not being sold, according to sources related to the company.

As noted in the report, the temporary shut down could lead to the layoffs of thousands of GM workers. Jim Gillette, CSM Worldwide financial services director, is quoted as stating of the impact General Motors’ situation could have on suppliers, “It’s one of those things we’ve been dreading for a long time… It’s as bad as its ever been.”

General Motors is currently facing a government imposed restructuring deadline for June 1. As noted in the report, the company’s CEO has stated that failure to meet the deadline may result in its filing for bankruptcy

http://www.wiredprnews.com/2009/04/23/gm-plans-to-close-plants-temporarily_200904233333.html

[Kittycat]

1. Well, this might be what it takes for...

Republicans to understand why these american middle-class/blue collar jobs are important to protect.

[TornadoTN]

2. Not a chance - the fat cats will still be fat and happy

With that, they'll still be writing checks and funding efforts to further undermine anything that benefits the common citizen.

[lostnotforgotten]

3. No, The Republicorps Will Argue That Importing Cheaper Labor Is The Answer

eom

[DKRC]

4. Opening another plant in China

APRIL 16, 2009

GM's Goals for China Require Another Plant

By NORIHIKO SHIROUZU

BEIJING -- General Motors Corp. would need to build another car-assembly plant in China to meet its goal of doubling its annual sales in the country to two million vehicles in five years, a senior executive said Wednesday.

"We're pretty well-placed to do a lot of growth at the moment without having to spend a lot of money," Kevin Wale, head of GM China Group, said in an interview. "We would probably need at most one new facility to get to two million units."

Mr. Wale gave no indication that GM is already planning an additional factory in China. He said most of the U.S. auto maker's existing plants in China have been designed and built with flexibility for expansion, and that GM will try to squeeze more production capacity out of those existing plants.

GM, which is surviving on government loans at home, said last week it hopes to increase its annual China sales in five years. Last year, its sales in China rose 6% to 1,094,561 vehicles, including sales of microminivans made with Wuling Automobile Co., one of its Chinese partners. The U.S. auto maker said at the time that it will expand its production capacity in China as well as its product portfolio. It plans to add 30 new models in China over the next five years, a spokeswoman said.

<...>

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123979346116820629.html

Rats leaving the ship they helped sink.

When Americans are reduced to being grateful for jobs paying 30 cents a day they'll come back.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. This is following the shut downs in Mexican plants

this is happening all over north america... wannna bet Canadian plants will be closed too

[fumsm]

6. Plant shutdowns minor compared to suppliers

The majority of autoworkers work at the suppliers plants, not the assembly plants or the big 3. They will also shut down due to lack of work. The layoffs will be quite major.