GM Again Trimming Pickup Production

(Edmunds Auto Observer) General Motors Co. is trimming production of fullsize pickup trucks at its assembly plant in Flint, MI, said Automotive News this week, with GM cancelling five Saturday build dates in September and October. The report comes as GM in early August acknowledged it also was cutting scheduled Saturday shifts through the rest of the year at the company’s other fullsize pickup assembly plant in Fort Wayne, IN.

It appears GM believes that although inventories of light-duty pickups need to be pared, demand still dictates that heavy-duty pickup assembly needs to increase. The company came under scrutiny earlier this year when it announced it was adding a shift at Flint to increase production of heavy-duty versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. Inventories of GM pickups have been abnormally high, but prior to the latest cutbacks, GM officials had said the company was attempting to build inventories in anticipation of plant shutdowns required in 2012 to retool for the next generation of fullsize pickups.

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