Monday, March 19, 2001 GM Canada takes three weeks out of production schedule for two plants TORONTO (CP) -- General Motors (GM:NYSE) is taking more time out of production at two Canadian plants to bring inventories back in line with market demand, the company announced Monday.

GM, the world's biggest automaker, said its car plant in Ste-Therese, Que., which makes the Pontiac Firebird and Chevrolet Camaro, will close for the weeks of April 16 and April 23. With the new cuts, the Quebec factory, which employs just under 1,000 workers, will have been closed for eight weeks so far this year.

In addition, a previously announced shutdown of GM's No. 2 carmaking plant in Oshawa, Ont., has been extended. Originally slated to close for the week of April 30, the plant -- where about 2,500 workers make the Buick Century, Buick Regal and Chevrolet Lumina -- will also be idle the week of May 7.

GM announced the production changes Monday in an effort to match second-quarter output targets set forth by the company March 1, said GM Canada spokeswoman Faye Roberts.

The Canadian Auto Workers union said the cuts that have particularly plagued workers at the Quebec factory underline the need to replace the aging muscle cars made there, said spokesman John Graham.

"The bottom line is the Firebird and Camaro just aren't selling," Graham said. The vehicles will go out of production at the Ste-Therese plant, north of Montreal, next year, threatening the factory's future unless GM decides to build a new product there.

The union has expressed some cautious optimism that the plant could be retooled to build a front-wheel drive model at the aging factory. The company is currently reviewing a study by its engineers in Detroit that would involve a $40-million investment for the factory.

The company has already eliminated overtime at its Canadian operations and taken steps to trim supply amid a downturn in the U.S. new vehicle market, where most Canadian-built cars are sold.

The auto giant's second-quarter production estimate for North America calls for 1.3 million vehicles, a 17 per cent reduction from 2000. In the first quarter, GM reduced continental production by 21 per cent to 1.2 million vehicles.

The production cuts come a year after GM set a Canadian record for annual auto production with output of 963,438 vehicles.

The latest cuts follow previously announced plans to temporarily lay off workers at a GM parts plant in St. Catharines, Ont., this month and the closure of Cami Automotive Inc. in Ingersoll, Ont., for the week of April 30. The one-week shutdown at Cami -- a joint venture between GM and Suzuki -- will come a few weeks after 500 workers will be permanently laid off at the plant on April 6 when production of the Chevrolet Metro ends.

While GM remains the largest employer of autoworkers in Canada at about 22,000, the company has cut 7,000 jobs in this country since 1993.

http://www.canoe.ca/MoneyNews/mar19_gmprod-cp.html

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), March 19, 2001