General Motors announced plans to shut four truck and SUV plants that employ over 8,300 workers. The plants to be closed include two U.S. facilities – the Moraine, Ohio, plant that builds midsize SUVs such as the Chevrolet Trailblazer and GMC Envoy; and the Janesville, Wis., assembly line that builds large SUVs such as the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban. In addition, GM plans to close a pickup plant in Oshawa, Ontario (Canada), and a truck plant in Toluca, Mexico. According to GM, the plant cuts, which will reduce capacity to produce pickups and SUVs by about 35%, will save the company $1 billion per year.
GM also recently announced that approximately 19,000 of its U.S. hourly employees have accepted voluntary buyouts and will be separated from the company by July 1. The company said the figure represents about 24% of its domestic production workers. GM offered buyout packages to all 74,000 U.S. workers in an effort to reduce overall employment numbers and financial obligations.