Autoblog

General Motors has announced that it will close its Grand Rapids metal and die plant by the end of 2009. The announcement comes one day after the General said it would close its Janesville, Wisconsin-based SUV assembly plant by the end of 2008, and one week after it announced the same production end date at its Moraine, OH plant. The closure of the Grand Rapids metal and die plant won't make the same waves as the two assembly plants, but the facility employs a substantial 1,340 hourly workers and another 180 salaried employees, which is more than Janesvile or Moraine. The employees are eligible for 48 weeks of supplemented unemployment that adds up to the majority of their base wage, followed by a trip to GM's job bank. Three plant closings in two weeks is a lot, but with Oshawa truck and Toluca still scheduled for closure, there are still more doors to shutter in the days ahead.

[Source: Detroit News]

Following a slew of labor problems including the American Axle strike that cost an estimated $2 billion, General Motors is restructuring to accommodate the declining U.S. auto market. Following the lead of Ford and Chrysler, the move will likely include further cost cutting and layoffs, as production of thirsty truck and sport-utility vehicles is wound down to make room for more fuel efficient vehicles. Information is sketchy at this stage, but plan on learning the details when the restructuring is officially announced at the company's annual meeting on June 3. With its stock closing Tuesday at its lowest level in more than two decades and thousands of jobs at stake, GM had better get this next move right.

[Source: Automotive News, subs. req'd]

General Motors held a conference with analysts today in which it outlined the automaker's turnaround progress and plans for 2008, the result of which is a press release (after the jump) that is the most boring piece of literature ever to be read. We tried, and were comatose by the first set of bullet points. Those who soldiered on, however, discovered that GM's cost-cutting plans for 2008 include offering worker buyouts to 46,000 eligible employees and potentially closing more facilities.

Follow the jump for the skinny on the details, as well as the official snooze-inducing press release from GM.

[Source: GM, The Detroit News]

The Level Field Institute, a group comprised of retired domestic auto workers, is telling consumers "What you drive, drives America" in an attempt to convince car buyers to purchase vehicles from the-group-of-nominally-domestic-automakers-previously-referred-to-as-the-Big-3. The ad campaign uses a variety of statistics to drive home its point, including the fact that direct employment by the US automakers is roughly 3.5 times that of the "transplants" (foreign automakers that produce vehicles in the US). Jason Vines, Chrysler's VP of Communications and always someone that's good for a quote, states "Baseball, hot dogs and Toyota? Sorry, it doesn't ring a bell."

While we fully support the concept of buying domestically-produced consumer products, we also feel that this campaign has an aura of desperation about it - as is often the case when an advertising campaign deviates from focus on the product itself. There is also the simple difficulty in determining the origin of a vehicle; as we posted earlier this week, the domestic content "gap" is closing between "domestic" and "foreign" vehicles, and the information displayed to consumers on the origin of a vehicle's content is often difficult to understand (or perhaps even misleading).

[Source: Detroit News]