GM to step up production
DETROIT — Shoppers are snapping up cars and trucks so quickly that General Motors Co. is boosting production for the rest of the year to keep up with Cash for Clunkers demand.
GM said Tuesday that it would add 60,000 vehicles to its production schedule in the third and fourth quarters and bring back about 1,350 laid-off workers. The company now plans to make 535,000 cars and trucks during July-September.
That would amount to a 35 percent increase from the second quarter, while production in the final three months of the year will rise another 20 percent.
"Our dealers are clamoring for more vehicles in almost every segment," said Mark LaNeve, vice president of U.S. sales.
The Cobalt, GM’s highest-mileage car at up to 37 mpg on the highway, once was among the top 10 vehicles on the Cash for Clunkers purchase list. Dealers say shortages have bumped it from the top 10 list.
GM’s August sales could beat company projections by 50,000, LaNeve said. He sees sales rising through the end of 2009, even if the clunkers program is pulling sales ahead from later in the year.
"If we don’t add the production in, we would certainly be running short in November or December," even if the program takes away sales from later, he said compare car insurance prices.
GM’s dealer inventory is running at 360,000 units, down from 1.3 million three or four years ago. Some models, like the Equinox, have a 10-12 day supply, far from the ideal 60 days analysts say is necessary to provide adequate selection.
GM will add shifts to factories in Ingersoll, Ontario, and Lordstown, Ohio. The Ontario plant makes the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossover vehicles, both of which get 32 mpg on the highway. Lordstown makes the Cobalt.
Production also will be boosted at other North American factories, including those that make the Chevrolet HHR small wagon, the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickups, the Chevrolet Camaro, Buick LaCrosse sedan and the Cadillac SRX and CTS Wagon.
The automaker also will add two months to the life of a midsize car factory in Orion Township, Mich., and 10,000 workers will get overtime to increase production at assembly and parts plants.
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