Announcing the cuts overnight, GM cited “the ongoing and severe drop in (North American) sales.” It said its sales in November were down 41 percent on the same month of 2007, in an overall US market where November sales fell by 36 percent year-on-year.
GM says it will cut first quarter production volume by about 30 percent in factories in the US, Canada and Mexico, and “will remove approximately 250,000 units from production.
“The speed and severity of the U.S. auto market’s decline has been unprecedented in recent weeks as consumers reel from the collapse of the financial markets and the resulting lack of credit for vehicle financing,” it said in a statement.
GM says it may also need to cut powertrain and body stamping production to match the lower vehicle build rate.
