Admin
12-23-04, 02:44 AM
(Published Monday, December 6, 2004 10:35:58 AM CST)
General Motors' truck assembly plant in Janesville is not immune to the sales declines the automaker says will force it to temporarily close factories in the first quarter of 2005.
GM announced in October that the Janesville plant, which has 3,800 hourly and 300 salaried employees, will close for four weeks early next year as the automaker tries to align its inventories with customer demand.
Workers at the Janesville plant, which builds Chevrolet Suburbans and Tahoes and GMC Yukon XLs and Yukons, will be laid off the week of Jan. 3 and for a three-week stretch starting March 21.
GM said last week that its November sales fell nearly 17 percent to 300,000 vehicles. The automaker said it would trim production 7 percent in the first quarter by closing five plants for different lengths of time.
Sales of the four full-size SUVs built in Janesville, Arlington, Texas and Silao, Mexico, all struggled in November.
Compared with the numbers posted in November 2003, last month's sales for the Suburban were off 25 percent, while Tahoe posted a 32 percent decline and sales of the Yukon XL and Yukon were off by 26 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
For the year to date, three of the four trucks are trailing the pace set in 2003. Suburban sales are down by 10 percent, Tahoe sales are off nearly 5 percent and Yukon XL deliveries have dropped by 5 percent.
For the year, Yukon deliveries are up 3.7 percent.
General Motors' truck assembly plant in Janesville is not immune to the sales declines the automaker says will force it to temporarily close factories in the first quarter of 2005.
GM announced in October that the Janesville plant, which has 3,800 hourly and 300 salaried employees, will close for four weeks early next year as the automaker tries to align its inventories with customer demand.
Workers at the Janesville plant, which builds Chevrolet Suburbans and Tahoes and GMC Yukon XLs and Yukons, will be laid off the week of Jan. 3 and for a three-week stretch starting March 21.
GM said last week that its November sales fell nearly 17 percent to 300,000 vehicles. The automaker said it would trim production 7 percent in the first quarter by closing five plants for different lengths of time.
Sales of the four full-size SUVs built in Janesville, Arlington, Texas and Silao, Mexico, all struggled in November.
Compared with the numbers posted in November 2003, last month's sales for the Suburban were off 25 percent, while Tahoe posted a 32 percent decline and sales of the Yukon XL and Yukon were off by 26 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
For the year to date, three of the four trucks are trailing the pace set in 2003. Suburban sales are down by 10 percent, Tahoe sales are off nearly 5 percent and Yukon XL deliveries have dropped by 5 percent.
For the year, Yukon deliveries are up 3.7 percent.