GM to shutter four plants

DETROIT, June 3 (UPI) -- General Motors Corp. announced Tuesday it would close four truck plants, as it shifts its focus to smaller cars.

GM said plants would close in Janesville, Wis., Moraine, Ohio, Oshawa, Canada, and Toluca, Mexico.

The Mexican plant would be the first to close, "by the end of this year," GM said. Plants in Wisconsin and Canada will shut down by the end of 2009, while the Ohio plant will close "at the end of the 2010 model run, or sooner, if demand dictates," the company said in a statement.

The closings reflect a consumer shift towards fuel-efficiency. Oshawa Truck Assembly builds Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra models. The Ohio plant constructs Chevy Trailblazers, GMC Envoys and Saab 9-7x models. The Janesville plant builds medium-duty trucks, the Tahoe, Suburban and Yukon. The Chevrolet Kodiak is produced in Mexico.

The closings and shift reductions at truck plants in Pontiac and Flint, Mich., will save $1 billion in operating costs, GM said in a statement.

The closings add to a workforce reduction of 19,000 hourly workers planned for this summer, The Detroit News reported.

The shift includes "a strategic review of the Hummer brand," which the company may sell or scrap altogether, analysts said.