GM to Shutter Four More Plants

More bad news from the sagging auto industry.

GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner will announce plans this week to close four U.S. assembly plants, the Automotive News industry paper reported today, citing a "company insider."

It said the move was part of an effort by the world's biggest carmaker to quiet Wall Street speculation about a possible bankruptcy.

It quoted its source as saying the planned cutbacks would come in a "bold announcement" that should "cause a lot of people to shut up."

GM was not immediately available for comment. It has lost nearly $4 billion this year and has said it will give details by the end of 2005 of its plan to cut at least 25,000 manufacturing jobs as part of a broader restructuring plan.

Who might get nailed in this move?

Some experts believe The Lansing Craft Center, where GM builds the Chevrolet SSR, will likely be shut down because the convertible sport pickup has not sold very well and GM has idled the plant for several months in 2005.

Two other plants likely to be shut down are the Doraville, Georgia, plant, which builds GM's minivans, and an SUV plant in Janesville, Wisconsin, analysts said.

The new plant closures will add to three assembly plants that GM has already closed or stopped production at this year -- a car plant in Lansing, Michigan, an SUV plant in Linden, New Jersey, and a van plant in Baltimore.