GM begins to restore third shifts at plants

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Co. will go to 24-hour operations at factories in Kansas, Michigan and Indiana to handle an expected increase in demand and to make up for production lost from a large-scale factory consolidation announced earlier in the year.

The automaker says it will add a third shift at its Fairfax plant in Kansas City, Kan., in January. That will be followed in March or April by third shifts at factories in Delta Township, Mich., near Lansing, and Fort Wayne, Ind.

About 2,400 production workers will be recalled as a result of the added shifts, and another 600 will be recalled at parts factories across the country, said Tim Lee, group vice president for global manufacturing.

The increases announced Tuesday, coupled with other production increases announced during the summer, will allow GM to raise North American production from about 1.9 million vehicles this year to 2.8 million in 2010, Lee said.

The increase also is necessary because of an expected sales increase next year and because GM’s inventory of cars and trucks was at a record-low level of 378,000 at the end of August, said Mark LaNeve, vice president of U.S. sales.

The Fairfax plant makes the midsize Chevrolet Malibu, Saturn Aura and Buick LaCrosse, while Delta Township makes the GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook large crossover vehicles. The Fort Wayne factory makes pickup trucks.

GM says in a statement that Fairfax will get all production of the Malibu when a midsize car factory in Orion Township, Mich., closes Nov. 25. It will be converted to a small-car plant and reopen in 2010.

Delta Township will get production of the Chevrolet Traverse large crossover when the Spring Hill, Tenn., factory that now makes the vehicles closes, also on Nov. 25. That plant will go on standby in case demand increases.

Fort Wayne will add production of heavy-duty versions of the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickups that are being made in Pontiac, Mich. That factory is to close at the end of September, the company said in a statement.

Lee said GM will not hire new workers to staff the additional shifts. Instead, the company will first offer the jobs to workers at the plants that will be closed. After that, they will be offered to workers in the region and then across the nation, he said.

Although the company’s dealer inventory is low now, it will take a minimum of three months to add the shifts because workers must be moved and because machinery must be disassembled and moved from Spring Hill and Pontiac, the company said.

GM’s September sales have been slow following the end of the government’s Cash for Clunkers program, LaNeve said. The company, though, predicts an increase in total U.S. sales from 10.5 million this year to 11.5 to 12 million next year, he said.

About 800 workers will be recalled at Delta Township, 900 in Kansas City and 700 in Fort Wayne, Lee said. Last month GM announced it would add shifts at factories in Ingersoll, Ontario, and Lordstown, mainly in the fourth quarter. Lordstown makes the Chevrolet Cobalt small car, GM’s highest mileage vehicle at 37 mpg on the highway.

SEE ALSO:Jobless rate in Mahoning Valley starts to fall.