GM Tells AM General To Slow Hummer Production
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
August 24, 2004 5:10 p.m.
MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP)--General Motors Corp. (GM) has told AM General to slow production of the H2 Hummer.
AM General spokesman Lee Woodward said Tuesday that the company, which makes the vehicle for GM, plans to end its second shift on Oct. 25, moving those workers to the first shift and to a neighboring plant that builds military Humvees.
He would not give the exact number of employees affected, but said no layoffs were expected.
GM spokesman Pete Ternes said the cutbacks were not related to recent increases in gasoline prices. He said GM was simply trying to match production with sales.
"We want to continue to keep this an exclusive model. We don't want our inventory to get too high," Ternes said.
Ternes wouldn't give the number of H2s the plant produces weekly, but said 25,000 are sold a year and that pace is expected to continue.
South Bend, Ind.-based AM General employs about 2,400 people at its headquarters and in neighboring Mishawaka, where two factories turn out the Humvee military vehicle and the Hummer H1 and H2 SUVs.
AM General announced two weeks ago that it was being taken over by a joint venture whose managing partner will be MacAndrews AMG Holdings LLC, an affiliate of New York financier Ron Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. (MAF.XX).
In trading Tuesday, GM shares closed up 13 cents or 0.3%, at $41.49, on the New York Stock Exchange.
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