| GM Closing 4 Truck and SUV Plants in North America
Tuesday, June 3, 2008; 11:03 AM
General Motors will close four of its truck and SUV plants in coming months, expand production of its more fuel efficient cars and move forward with development of an electric vehicle, as the auto giant adapts to skyrocketing energy costs and changing consumer preferences.
As if emphasising the end of an epoch in which American car companies drew profits from building bulk and passenger capacity into family vehicles, the company also said it may dump the Hummer brand -- perhaps the ultimate in auto excess.
Two of the plants to be closed are in the United States -- in Moraine, Ohio, and Janesville, Wis., where the company makes vehicles like the Envoy and the Suburban. The others are truck plants located in Oshawa, Canada, and Toluca, Mexico.
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