GM to Shut Down Wisconsin SUV Plant Earlier than Expected

In response to rapidly declining full-size SUV sales and the ongoing economic crisis, GM announced on Monday that it will not wait until late 2010 to close its Janesville, Wisconsin assembly plant as it had originally announced. Instead, the troubled American automaker has decided to shut down the factory bythe end of the year. The Wisconsin plant employs around 1,200 workers and it assembles the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL large SUVs. -Continued

GM's spokeperson Chris Lee justified the company's decision to close the factory earlier than expected by blaming the sharp drop in large SUV sales the past few months. Lee supported that the forecasts are that the market will continue to shrink and that the GM sufficient production capacity for SUVs with its remaining plant in Arlington, Texas.