The seismic shift in the motoring industry was rarely more apparent than when General Motors (GM) announced its plans to close four truck plants, potentially sell its hallmark Hummer brand and instead launch an electric car.
GM, the company behind the marquee Vauxhall in the UK, is attempting to reinvent its image and move away from petrol-intensive vehicles and instead embrace the green car revolution as customers demand smaller, cheaper and more environmentally friendly vehicles.
Chief executive Rick Wagoner admitted that with the US market moving firmly towards smaller cars this is unlikely to be a short-term move.
“We at GM don’t think this is a spike or a temporary shift,” he said.
This could bring an end to the 10-year association with the Hummer, which had earned almost iconic status, but now faces a ‘strategic review’. Hummers were originally meant as off-road vehicles but over time have been used more as an alternative to the traditional 4×4. However, with carbon dioxide emissions high, sales of the vehicle have slumped by nearly 30 per cent this year.
If it does prove to be ‘out with the old’ then GM is certainly preparing to welcome the new – in the form of the Chevrolet Volt, an electric car to be built in GM’s hometown of Detroit.
The plants that will close are based in the USA (two), Canada and Mexico and all manufacture trucks and 4x4s. It is expected that around 10,000 workers will be affected though it is hoped that many will be relocated to other areas of GM, due to the departure of 19,000 hourly paid workers under redundancy and retirement schemes.
The news comes just two weeks after Ford announced its own plans to slash production of 4x4s.
