DETROIT — An additional 1,600 workers at three General Motors Corp. factories will be laid off indefinitely over the next few months as the company tries to control its inventory amid a worsening U.S. sales slump.
About 700 workers at GM's pickup truck plant in Pontiac, Mich., will be furloughed starting Feb. 1, while 500 at the Detroit-Hamtramck sedan factory will be laid off starting Jan. 12, spokesman Chris Lee said Thursday. In addition, 400 workers at a two-seat sports car assembly plant in Wilmington, Del., also will be out of work starting Dec. 8.
Workers were notified of the company's actions Sept. 29, Lee said.
The Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which makes the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS full-size sedans, is down to one daily shift.
GM will reduce its assembly line speed from 56 to 38 cars per hour to achieve the layoffs, Lee said.
The Pontiac plant, which makes the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, also is operating on one shift and will see its line speed go from 55 trucks to 24 trucks per hour.
In Wilmington, the plant that makes the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky and Opel GT roadsters will go from two shifts per day to one, Lee said.
"We don't need excess inventory out there," Lee said. "We adjust up and down to the market. Pickup trucks, as you know, have been impacted, and in this case our large luxuries have been impacted and the small two-seater niche products as well."
The automaker announced Monday that it would shutter its metal parts stamping factory near Grand Rapids by the end of 2009, costing 1,520 jobs. It also sped up the end of SUV production at its Janesville, Wis., plant to Dec. 23, eliminating 1,200 positions.
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