Toyota may be over stuffing its dealers with trucks and SUVs, but General Motors has announced that it will eliminate one shift at each of its four full-size pickup truck and SUV plants “to bring production in line with market demand.” The cuts will impact GM’s full-size pickup truck assembly plants in Pontiac, Michigan; Flint, Michigan; and Oshawa, Ontario; and its full-size SUV assembly plant in Janesville, Wisconsin.
The Flint (Heavy Duty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra), Janesville (Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon, Yukon XL) and Pontiac (Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra) plants will be losing one shift on July 14, while the Oshawa (Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra) plant will eliminate one shift beginning on September 8.
The shift elimination will remove 88,000 full-size trucks and 50,000 full-size SUVs from GM’s 2008 production schedule.
GM blames the shift eliminations on rising fuel prices and a generally sagging market. Through the first quarter of 2008, full-size truck sales were down 15 percent while full-size SUV sales plummeted by 26 percent.
“With rising fuel prices, a softening economy, and a downward trend on current and future market demand for full-size trucks, a significant adjustment was needed to align our production with market realities,” said Troy Clarke, president GM North America. “This is a difficult move, but we remain committed to retaining and growing our leadership position in the full-size truck market.”
