GM to close more plants and cut 25,000 jobs

WILMINGTON, Delaware - General Motors Corp. expects to close more assembly and component plants over the next few years

It is slashing about 25,000 manufacturing jobs, as it battles high costs and shrinking market share, the company's chief executive said on Tuesday local time.

Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner also told the annual meeting that GM, which lost US$1.1 billion ($1.56 billion) in the first quarter, expects to save US$2.5 billion a year from the cost-cutting measures.

The world's largest automaker has been closing and idling plants over the past four years, reducing its annual assembly capacity from six million vehicles in 2002 to five million by the end of this year.

A benchmark annual report on North American manufacturing operations released last week ranked GM last among leading automakers in its assembly plant capacity utilisation rate.

The report, prepared by Harbour Consulting of Troy, Michigan, said GM used 85 per cent of its North American plant capacity in 2004, compared with a utilisation rate of 107 per cent at Toyota Motor Corp..

- REUTERS