GM Plans Extended Shutdowns at Most U.S. Plants, Reports Say

General Motors, battling a 49 percent decline in U.S. sales through March, plans extended shutdowns at most of its U.S. plants this summer, news reports said.

The closings will stretch as long as nine weeks, the Associated Press reported, citing two people familiar with the plan. Bloomberg News said 15 North American assembly plants will be shuttered for at least a week from mid-May through July. Most GM factories will be down about two months instead of the typical two-week summer break, The Wall Street Journal said.

UAW plant officials say GM plant managers and human resources personnel will meet with the union on Thursday and Friday, April 24 and 25, at some factories to discuss changes in production, according to the AP.

GM spokesman Chris Lee declined to comment on that report and said the company tells workers first when production cuts are made, the AP reported.

Reduced production will help GM ease a 122-day supply of vehicles as of April 1. The industry average was 83 days following a 37 percent decline in sales in March.

The automaker is staying afloat with $13.4 billion in U.S. loans and scrambling to reach an accord with bondholders to avert a bankruptcy filing before a June 1 government deadline.

Filed by Automotive News, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.