GM confirms Pontiac job cuts

[douglask]

General Motors Corp. on Monday approved a production cut at its Pontiac Assembly Center, a move that could result in as many as 500 layoffs at the factory that builds heavy-duty pickups.

With sales of its big trucks hurting in a sluggish market, GM will produce nearly 20 percent fewer pickups in two shifts at the plant.

Company officials are determining how many jobs will be eliminated as part of the change. Sources had said the plan is to cut about 100 full-time workers and nearly 400 temporary employees in September.

GM is still working to reach a final number, officials said on Monday. "It's still a matter of discussion," GM spokesman Tom Wickham said.

GM's redesigned Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks have struggled against deeply discounted competitors and Toyota Motor Corp.'s new Tundra, the Japanese automaker's first full-size pickup. Although the Tundra has no heavy-duty version, analysts have said the full-size version threatens heavy-duty offerings from domestic automakers.

Complete article:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../707240331/1001

[RJB]

Ouch!! Just when things were starting to look up for GM they take a hit. What kind of impact will this have on the talks that are underway with the UAW?

[AxelTheRed]

Flint builds the heavy duty trucks, not Pontiac.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

GM's redesigned Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks have struggled against deeply discounted competitors and Toyota Motor Corp.'s new Tundra, the Japanese automaker's first full-size pickup.

There are so many things wrong with that statement...

1) Since when have the 900s been struggling?!?!?! They have one off month and now all of the sudden they're failures?

2) Now since Toyota is bribing customers to buy it's piece of crap, all of the sudden GM's offerings are chopped liver? Funny how the media paints the picture of Toyotas incentive PROBLEM in a positive light.

3) The current Tundra is NOT Toyota's first full-size truck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are these people REALLY that stupid????? Or are they just trying to mitigate Toyota's FAILURE in the segment for the last 10 years?

Although the Tundra has no heavy-duty version, analysts have said the full-size version threatens heavy-duty offerings from domestic automakers.

Naturally..... Detroit gets screwed regardless. But then, we ALL knew this was coming, now that they Turdra is gaining traction, we get to watch for the next 5 years as Toyota ups production, uses the media to coverup it's defects AND convince the consumer that it is indeed and american automaker, and Detroit LOSES another market while everyone plays dumb and asks "Why is Detroit losing sales?"

[emh]

deeply discounted competitors and Toyota Motor Corp.'s new Tundra

That's redundant -- the Tundra is included in the "deeply discounted competitors".

[balthazar]

Flint builds the heavy duty trucks, not Pontiac.

Pretty sure Pontiac does too; my '04 HD was built in Flint, but my brother's '07 3500 was built in a different plant- I thought it was Pontiac.

[AxelTheRed]

Pretty sure Pontiac does too; my '04 HD was built in Flint, but my brother's '07 3500 was built in a different plant- I thought it was Pontiac.

Could've been the Ford Wayne plant, too.

[mustang84]

I think the reason GM's truck sales were down was that they weren't playing the incentive game with the other boys until this month. When you have Toyota, Ford, and Dodge dropping between $3K-6K on the hood and GM with like $2000, people are going to go for the good buys with the way gas prices are. I applaud GM for holding out and still managing 60,000 units moved for that month, even if it was down. It's unfortunate that everyone else is pushing them back toward discounts, especially Toyota and Dodge's whoppers on the hood (5K and 6K respectively for June).

[andy82471]

I think the reason GM's truck sales were down was that they weren't playing the incentive game with the other boys until this month. When you have Toyota, Ford, and Dodge dropping between $3K-6K on the hood and GM with like $2000, people are going to go for the good buys with the way gas prices are. I applaud GM for holding out and still managing 60,000 units moved for that month, even if it was down. It's unfortunate that everyone else is pushing them back toward discounts, especially Toyota and Dodge's whoppers on the hood (5K and 6K respectively for June).

GM is doing the right thing by cutting production rather than piling on the rebates. Toyota, with its huge pile of cash on hand, can afford to play the incentive game for a while but GM can't. Someone correct me if I am wrong; I know someone who works at a Toyota dealer, and he told me that even with higher incentives, the average transaction price of the TUNDRA is higher than any of the domestics.

[chevelle454]

Speaking of the Toyota Turdra, I saw one of these POS today towing a small trailer(couldn't have weight more than 3000 pounds, and the Turd was sagging badly. The nose was pointing up in the air.

I also saw an article a while back on Autoweek that mentioned that the Turd sags badly towing something nowhere near its tow rating, It also said the Chevy they had stayed level with the same load.

[Sixty8panther]

There are so many things wrong with that statement...

1) Since when have the 900s been struggling?!?!?! They have one off month and now all of the sudden they're failures?

2) Now since Toyota is bribing customers to buy it's piece of crap, all of the sudden GM's offerings are chopped liver? Funny how the media paints the picture of Toyotas incentive PROBLEM in a positive light.

3) The current Tundra is NOT Toyota's first full-size truck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are these people REALLY that stupid????? Or are they just trying to mitigate Toyota's FAILURE in the segment for the last 10 years?

Yes, yes and yes. I'm surprised the media has time to write articles

at all between giving and receiving fellatio from Toyota & Honda...

[daves87rs]

Well, we saw this coming from a mile away.....

Discounts aren't really hurting the 900s....IT IS THE PRICE OF GAS.

This can't bear repeating enough.

All those buyers who wanted to buy a truck for the "image", can't afford to do it.

I really need to take a few pictures of a few of our local Chevy dealerships....guess what I see on the trade in lots?

You guessed it- TB's, Silverados, Tahoes, and so on.....70 pecent of the lot is some sort of truck or Suv.

A barrel of oil is heading toward 80 bucks...there is a good chance it could hit 90 by the end of the year...4 bucks a gallon is just a matter of time...don't let the current price fool you....

I expected the truck market to take a hit, and keep taking a hit for a while.....

Now I see why there are so many Impys around here...

If I were GM, I would really consider doing something the the Colorado/Canyon twins...and small truck would come in handy for those who need a truck....good gas milage with a solid truck would soften the large truck blow....

As much as I would like a new Silverado, I don't think I could handle both bigger payments and putting over a 100 bucks in gas in it every few weeks....

Unless every new Silverado came with a free Aveo.....

[daves87rs]

GM is doing the right thing by cutting production rather than piling on the rebates. Toyota, with its huge pile of cash on hand, can afford to play the incentive game for a while but GM can't. Someone correct me if I am wrong; I know someone who works at a Toyota dealer, and he told me that even with higher incentives, the average transaction price of the TUNDRA is higher than any of the domestics.

All very true.

No GMS there....

[toyoguy]

There are so many things wrong with that statement...

1) Since when have the 900s been struggling?!?!?! They have one off month and now all of the sudden they're failures?

while struggling is excessive, you missed the part where production is slowing.

[Robert Hall]

Speaking of Tundras, I saw one done up commerical style for the first time today..had a ladder rack over the bed w/ a few ladders, hardhat on the dash..

[Camino LS6]

Actually, I'm fine with the truck market shrinking a bit. Let all those pretenders who don't need a truck start buying cars again so that those of us who need a truck can afford one.

The 900s are arguably the best trucks on the market, I'm glad to see that GM was able to resist the incentives for as long as they did.

I'd like to see the whole truck market adjust downward a bit on pricing.

[daves87rs]

Actually, I'm fine with the truck market shrinking a bit. Let all those pretenders who don't need a truck start buying cars again so that those of us who need a truck can afford one.

The 900s are arguably the best trucks on the market, I'm glad to see that GM was able to resist the incentives for as long as they did.

I'd like to see the whole truck market adjust downward a bit on pricing.

Agreed.