General Motors will idle three of 29 North American factories and lay off 5,200 workers next week to cut production as demand for new cars and trucks slows, Bloomberg News reported today.
One plant in Canada, in Ste. Therese, Quebec, and two in the U.S., in Shreveport, Louisiana, and Wentzville, Missouri, will be idled, the company said in a statement. GM doesn’t disclose how much the shutdowns will reduce production, spokesman Tom Wickham told Bloomberg.
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The news agency said that the temporary closings are part of the Detroit-based automaker’s plan to cut first-quarter production 21 percent from last year’s level. The annualised rate of U.S. sales of cars and light trucks last month was the lowest in more than two years.
General Motors said on Monday that it will build 1.2 million cars and light trucks this quarter, Bloomberg reported, down from the 1.521 million in the year-earlier period. GM has had the highest number of unsold cars sitting on dealer lots of all the U.S. automakers.
GM this week idled eight North American plants, including the three scheduled to be closed next week. About 20,000 workers would be laid off in this week’s shutdowns, GM said on Jan. 4.
Under the United Auto Workers contract, most laid-off workers receive 95 percent of their regular pay through a combination of state unemployment and company pay, Bloomberg said.
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