GM slowing the assembly lines at full-size SUV plants

General Motors assembly plants in Silao, Mexico, Arlington Texas, and Janesville, Wisconsin will be slowing their hourly build rates after the winter holiday break. The plants all produce the full-size GMT900 SUVs that GM introduced in early 2006. After strong early sales, these trucks are all starting to sit around on dealer lots for longer periods. At the beginning of November, the SUV inventories ranged from 84 days supply for the Cadillacs to 125 days for the Yukon XL. With the increased cost to dealers of carrying inventory that results from higher interest rates, GM is trimming the production rates by about 10 percent at each plant. With gas prices starting to creep back up again, it looks like consumers are slowly backing away from all the big SUVs, and Toyota may really be regretting making the new Tundra and upcoming Sequoia so large.

[Source: Detroit News]