General Motors will cut production at a Baltimore plant by a third starting in August and lay off some workers because of declining sales of the minivans the factory builds, Bloomberg News reported.
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Output of Chevrolet Astro and GMC Safari minivans will drop to more than 200 a day starting on August 4 from more than 300 now, spokesman Dan Flores told the news agency. GM hasn’t decided how many of the plant’s 1,300 employees will be laid off, he said.
Bloomberg News said General Motors also will temporarily shut down the plant for three weeks in July, including one previously scheduled week, to reduce inventories of the vehicles, Flores said.
The news agency said that US sales of the rear-wheel-drive Astro and Safari fell 21% this year to the end of April after an 18% drop for all of 2002.
Front-wheel-drive minivans such as the top-selling Dodge Caravan, Honda Odyssey and GM’s own Chevrolet Venture have become more popular because they offer a smoother, more car-like ride, the Bloomberg News report said.
