Struggling US automotive giant General Motors will temporarily close three of its Mexican plants in May and June, local news media reported.
The move is due to GM’s excessive inventory, and not a preparation for possible bankruptcy, Mauricio Kuri, GM’s public relations chief in Mexico, told the daily Reforma.
GM closed the same plants for several weeks in December, January and February, Reforma reported on its website late Friday.
The Silao complex will be closed from May 25 to June 10, the Ramos Arizpe plant will close May 18-22, and the San Luis Potosi plant will shutter June 1-12, Reforma reported.
The workers will use vacation days for the time the plants are closed, and if they run out of them, they will be paid 55 percent of their regular pay, Kuri told the newspaper.
The temporary closure affects 7,900 of GM’s 13,000 employees in Mexico.
In the United States, General Motors announced plans to shrink its dealer network 40 percent, cutting some 2,300 sales outlets by the end of 2010, under a stepped-up effort to prove viability and avert bankruptcy.
