EXHIBIT 99.1
GM North America to Undergo Major Capacity Reduction
Next Significant Step in GM's North American Turnaround Plan
9 Assembly, Stamping & Powertrain Facilities, 3 SPO Facilities to Cease
Operations
Total Reduction of 30,000 Positions
Total Cost Reduction Running Rate of $7 Billion by End of 2006
DETROIT - General Motors will undergo a wide-ranging restructuring of its
manufacturing operations in the United States and Canada as part of its
comprehensive four-point plan to return the company to profitability and
long-term growth, GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced today.
GM's next step in its North American turnaround plan addresses its ongoing
capacity utilization, a major component of reducing structural cost. A total of
nine assembly, stamping and powertrain facilities and three Service and Parts
Operations facilities will cease operations.
The additional actions will reduce GMNA assembly capacity by about 1 million
units by the end of 2008, in addition to the previously implemented reduction of
1 million units between 2002 and 2005. Factoring in the additional capacity from
GM's new Delta Township facility in Lansing, Mich., slated to begin production
next year, the overall net result will be a GMNA assembly capacity of 4.2
million units. While down 30 percent since 2002, this capacity level will still
provide GM plenty of flexibility to anticipate and meet market demand, but in a
much more cost-effective manner. A total of 30,000 manufacturing positions will
be eliminated from 2005 through 2008.
"The decisions we are announcing today were very difficult to reach because of
their impact on our employees and the communities where they live and work,"
Wagoner added. "But these actions are necessary for GM to get its costs in line
with our major global competitors. In short, they are an essential part of the
plan to return our North American operations to profitability as soon as
possible.
"We continue to be equally committed to revenue drivers - introducing compelling
new cars and trucks, and executing our revitalized sales and marketing strategy
- - and we have received ratification of the agreement with the UAW, which will
help significantly to address our health-care cost challenges," Wagoner said.
"We are making steady and significant progress in implementing the plan to turn
around our U.S. business."
The following six assembly plant sites will be affected in the years indicated:
o Oklahoma City, Okla., will cease production in early 2006.
o Lansing, Mich., Craft Centre will cease production in mid-2006.
o Spring Hill, Tenn., Plant/Line No. 1, will cease production at the end of
2006.
o Doraville, Ga., will cease production at the end of its current products'
lifecycle in 2008.
o The third shift will be removed at Oshawa Car Plant No. 1, in Ontario,
Canada, in the second half of 2006. Subsequently, Oshawa Car Plant No.
2 will cease production after the current product runs out in 2008.
o The third shift will be removed at Moraine, Ohio, during 2006, with timing
to be based on market demand.
Capacity-related actions affecting stamping, Service & Parts Operations and
powertrain facilities include:
o The Lansing, Mich., Metal Center will cease production in 2006.
o The Pittsburgh, Pa., Metal Center will cease production in 2007.
o The Parts Distribution Center in Portland, Ore., will cease operations in
2006; the Parts Distribution Center in St. Louis, Mo., will cease
warehousing activities and will be converted to a collision center facility
in 2006; the Parts Processing Center in Ypsilanti, Mich., will cease
operations in 2007. One additional Parts Processing Center, to be announced
at a later date, will also cease operations in 2007.
o The competitiveness of all unitizing (packaging) operations at the
Pontiac, Drayton Plains, and Ypsilanti Processing Centers in Michigan, as
well as portions of the unitizing operations at the Flint, Mich.,
Processing Center will be evaluated in accordance with the provisions of
the GM-UAW national agreement.
o St. Catharines Ontario Street West powertrain components facility in
Ontario, Canada, will cease production in 2008.
o The Flint, Mich., North 3800 engine facility ("Factory 36") will cease
production in 2008.
Given the demographics of GM's workforce, the company plans to achieve much of
the job reduction via attrition and early retirement programs. GM will work with
the leadership of its unions, as any early retirement program would need to be
mutually agreed upon. GM hopes to reach an agreement on such a plan as soon as
possible.
"These are difficult moves that will affect thousands of dedicated GM employees
and families, as well as state and local governments," Wagoner said. "We will
work our hardest to mitigate that impact."
There will be a significant restructuring charge in conjunction with this
capacity announcement, and also with any related early retirement program. The
details of these charges will be provided when available.
Wagoner also said the company has further accelerated its efforts in structural
cost reduction, raising the previously indicated $5 billion running rate cost
reduction plan in North America to $6 billion by the end of 2006. In addition,
GM continues to pursue its plans to target $1 billion in net material cost
savings. In total, the plan is to achieve $7 billion of cost reductions on a
running rate basis by the end of 2006 - $1 billion above the previously
indicated target.
"Our collective goal remains the same: to return our North American operations
to sustained profitability as soon as possible, thereby helping to ensure a
stronger General Motors for the future," Wagoner concluded.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the
global industry sales leader since 1931. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about
325,000 people around the world. It has manufacturing operations in 32 countries
and its vehicles are sold in 200 countries. In 2004, GM sold nearly 9 million
cars and trucks globally, up 4 percent and the second-highest total in the
company's history. GM's global headquarters are at the GM Renaissance Center in
Detroit. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.
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Forward-looking Statements
In this press release and in related comments by General Motors management, our
use of the words "expect, anticipate, design, estimate, forecast, initiative,
objective, plan, goal, project, outlook, priorities, target, intend, evaluate,
seek, impact" and similar expressions, including references to what the future
implementation of our restructuring plan and the tentative health-care agreement
with the UAW will achieve, and when, in terms of cost savings and capacity
reduction, is intended to identify forward-looking statements. While these
statements represent our current judgment on what the future may hold, and we
believe these judgments are reasonable, actual results may differ materially due
to numerous important factors that are described in GM's most recent report on
SEC Form 10-K, which may be revised or supplemented in subsequent reports on SEC
Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Such factors include, among others, the following: the
ability of GM to realize production efficiencies, to achieve reductions in costs
as a result of the restructuring and health-care cost reductions and to
implement capital expenditures, all at the levels and times planned by
management; the pace of product introductions; significant changes in the
competitive environment; changes in laws, regulations and tax rates; the ability
of the corporation to achieve reductions in cost and employment levels to
realize production efficiencies and implement capital expenditures at levels and
times planned by management; changes in relations with unions and
employees/retirees and the legal interpretations of the agreements with those
unions with regard to employees/retirees; shortages of and price increases for
fuel; labor strikes or work stoppages; market acceptance of the corporation's
new products; additional credit rating downgrades; and changes in economic
conditions, commodity prices, currency exchange rates or political stability.