Hitting home
GM plans to step up closures time line
Moraine SUV plant closing will likely happen sooner, company says.
GM task force's task becomes more urgent
> GM Moraine plant closing
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
General Motors Corp. announced its second round of cuts in six weeks Tuesday, July 15, saying that previously announced plant closures — including Moraine's SUV assembly plant — will probably happen sooner.
On June 3, GM said the Moraine plant will close by 2010 or earlier. Rick Wagoner, GM chairman and chief executive, and Fritz Henderson, GM president, did not offer more exact dates for affected plants Tuesday.
But regarding the mid-size SUVs produced at the Moraine plant, Henderson warned: "That market segment has been under enormous pressure for the last three years, and it has only accelerated in the last six months.
"To the extent that we put those (closure) dates out there (on June 3), it will be those dates or sooner," Henderson said.
A GM Moraine plant spokeswoman, however, said the automaker has not given the local facility a date certain for closing.
"It's not even confirmed that this will definitely impact Moraine," plant spokeswoman Jessica Peck said.
Peck said the company has not set up meetings with Moraine employees to discuss any closing date. A union officer could not be reached.
Overall, GM's truck production capacity will be cut by 300,000 units by the end of 2009, executives said. Half of that will come from acceleration of previously announced cuts, GM said. The company also plans to cut salaried employment costs by 20 percent.
The Moraine plant employs more than 2,000 hourly workers and about 200 salaried employees making mid-size SUVs including the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and the GMC Envoy.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
