GM North America Announces Major Capacity Reductions
11/23/2005 - General Motors announced it will undergo a wide-ranging restructuring of its manufacturing operations in the United States and Canada.
General Motors announced it will undergo a wide-ranging restructuring of its manufacturing operations in the United States and Canada.
GM’s restructuring is part of a comprehensive four-point plan to return the company to profitability and long-term growth. This next stage addresses the company’s ongoing capacity utilization, a major component of reducing structural cost. A total of nine assembly, stamping and powertrain facilities and three Service and Parts Operations facilities will cease operations.
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The additional actions will reduce GM’s North American assembly capacity by about one million units by the end of 2008, in addition to the previously implemented reduction of one million units between 2002 and 2005. Factoring in the additional capacity from GM's new Delta Township facility in Lansing, Mich., slated to begin production next year, the overall net result will be a GMNA assembly capacity of 4.2 million units. Although the projected capacity is 30% lower compared to 2002, this capacity level will still provide GM plenty of flexibility to anticipate and meet market demand, but in a much more cost-effective manner. As part of the capacity reduction, a total of 30,000 manufacturing positions will be eliminated from 2005 through 2008.
"The decisions we are announcing were very difficult to reach because of their impact on our employees and the communities where we live and work," said GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner. "But these actions are necessary for GM to get its costs in line with our major global competitors. In short, they are an essential part of our plan to return our North American operations to profitability as soon as possible.
"We continue to be equally committed to revenue drivers — introducing compelling new cars and trucks, and executing our revitalized sales and marketing strategy — and we have received ratification of the agreement with the UAW, which will help significantly to address our health-care cost challenges," Wagoner said. "We are making steady and significant progress in implementing the plan to turn around our U.S. business."
Capacity-related actions affecting stamping, Service & Parts Operations and powertrain facilities include the Lansing, Mich., and Pittsburgh, Pa., Metal Centers, which will cease production in 2006, and 2007, respectively. The Portland, Ore., Parts Distribution Center will cease operations in 2006, and the St. Louis, Mo., Parts Distribution Center will cease warehousing activities and will be converted to a collision center facility in 2006. The Ypsilanti, Mich., Parts Processing Center will cease operations in 2007. One additional Parts Processing Center, to be announced at a later date, will also cease operations in 2007.
GM will evaluate the competitiveness of all unitizing (packaging) operations at the Pontiac, Drayton Plains, and Ypsilanti Processing Centers in Michigan, in accordance with the provisions of the GM-UAW national agreement. Portions of the unitizing operations at the Flint, Mich., Processing Center will also be evaluated. Additionally, the St. Catharines Ontario Street West powertrain components facility in Ont., Canada, will cease production in 2008, and the Flint, Mich., North 3800 engine facility ("Factory 36") will cease production in 2008.
Given the demographics of GM's workforce, the company plans to achieve much of the job reduction via attrition and early retirement programs. GM says it will work with the leadership of its unions, as any early retirement program would need to be mutually agreed upon. The company hopes to reach an agreement on such a plan as soon as possible.
Details of the significant restructuring charges related to the capacity reductions and any related early retirement program will be provided when available. Wagoner said the company has further accelerated its efforts in structural cost reduction, raising the previously indicated $5 billion running rate cost reduction plan in North America to $6 billion by the end of 2006. In addition, GM continues to pursue its plans to target $1 billion in net material cost savings. In total, the plan is to achieve $7 billion of cost reductions on a running rate basis by the end of 2006 — $1 billion above the previously indicated target.
"Our collective goal remains the same: to return our North American operations to sustained profitability as soon as possible, thereby helping to ensure a strong General Motors for the future," Wagoner concluded.
General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader since 1931. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 325,000 people around the world. It has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 200 countries. In 2004, GM sold nearly 9 million cars and trucks globally, up 4% and the second-highest total in the company's history. GM's global headquarters are at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit.