GM to Close 4 Truck/SUV Plants, Reassess Hummer

Public taste turns away from big cars
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 3, 2008 8:44 AM CDT
GM to Close 4 Truck/SUV Plants, Reassess Hummer
Four used sport utility vehicles that were traded in are pictured at a car dealership, Thursday, May 1, 2008 in Danvers, Mass.   (AP Photo/Lisa Poole)

GM will close four of its North American truck and SUV factories, the company announced today, as the public interest in gas-guzzlers wanes. The Hummer brand is also under “strategic review,” with all options on the table, "from a complete revamp of the product lineup to a partial or complete sale of the brand." The fully electric Chevy Volt, on the other hand, “is a go.”

Plants will shut down in Canada, Mexico, Ohio, and Wisconsin. It’s unclear how many jobs will be lost. CEO Rick Wagoner said the moves are "all in response to the rapid rise in oil prices and the resulting changes in the US, changes that we believe are more structural than cyclical." (More General Motors stories.)

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