3000 JOBS TO BE RESTORED

+ Click to Enlarge REVVING UP PRODUCTION: Workers assemble engines at a GM plant in Flint, Michigan. GM is to hire back about 3000 laid-off workers as it prepares to raise production. Image: AFP

September 23, 2009
By David Bailey and Bernie Woodall

General Motors plans to restore about 3000 jobs at US assembly plants and is preparing to raise North American production by up to 45 percent in 2010.

Shifts will be added at three assembly plants as the automaker consolidates production from those that are closing or retooling, a process that would not add immediately to its production schedule for 2009.

The company expects to increase North American production to about 2.8-million vehicles in 2010, up about 40 percent on 2009 when it cut North American production around its government-guided reorganisation.

US auto sales are thought to have hit bottom and manufacturers are raising production to restore depleted vehicle stocks that were reduced sharply after the federal government's "cash for clunkers" programme lifted sales in July and August with incentives of up to $4500 (R33 000) to turn in old vehicles and buy new, more fuel-efficient, models.

GM executives said the company would draw first from its pool of laid-off workers.

Earlier in September, GM said it expected to build 535 000 vehicles in North America in the third quarter and 655 000 in the fourth, down about 20 percent from 2008.

GM expects US auto sales of about 10.5-million vehicles in 2009, down from about 13.2-million in 2008, but perhaps 12-million in 2010. - Reuters