July 28 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. said it will eliminate shifts at two truck plants and slow output at two others under a previously announced plan to build 300,000 fewer vehicles by 2009.
One shift each is being cut effective Sept. 29 at factories in Moraine, Ohio, and Shreveport, Louisiana, that make sport- utility vehicles and pickups, spokesman Tony Sapienza said in an interview today. GM also will trim the hourly production rates at SUV plants in Silao, Mexico, and Mishawaka, Indiana, he said.
``This is a response to the continuing change by consumers to cars and crossovers from larger trucks,'' Sapienza said. ``This gets us much closer to the balance of production we have been seeking.'' The actions, along with more idling of some other plants, will trim output by 117,000 on an annual basis, he said.
GM, the largest U.S. automaker, is building fewer SUVs, pickup trucks and vans after a 21 percent drop in its first-half U.S. sales of the light trucks. Such sales fell 18 percent industrywide because more buyers shifted to cars as average gasoline prices rose above $4 a gallon. GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, the three U.S.-based automakers, all rely on light trucks for a majority of sales in their home market.
Trimming the shifts at Moraine and Shreveport affects about 1,760 hourly and salaried jobs, Sapienza said. GM makes Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Saab 9-7X and Isuzu Ascender SUVs at Moraine. The Shreveport plant builds Hummer H3 sport-utility vehicles and Chevrolet Colorado, and GMC Canyon pickups.
GM also plans additional idle time for truck plants in Silao; Ft. Wayne, Indiana; Oshawa, Ontario; and Pontiac and Flint, Michigan, beginning Sept. 2, Sapienza said.
Representatives of the IUE-CWA, which represents hourly workers at Moraine, and the United Auto Workers, which represents those employees at Shreveport, weren't immediately available for comment.
GM fell 55 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $11.35 at 11:39 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
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