GM to close 4 truck plants Automaker plans to shut pickup and SUV plants by 2010, plans to build more fuel-efficient vehicles, and may dump the Hummer brand. EMAIL | PRINT | 
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June 3, 2008: 8:27 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors announced plans Tuesday to shut four pickup and SUV plants, saying high fuel prices have produced a rapid and permanent change in consumer preferences away from the truck models on which it has depended.
At a news conference in Wilmington, Del., GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner also unveiled plans to produce more fuel efficient vehicles
The plants to be closed include two U.S. facilities - Moraine, Ohio and Janesville, Wis., along with plants in Canada and Mexico. The plants will close in 2009 and 2010. Each plant has about 2,500 employees.
Wagoner also said GM is looking at possibly selling its Hummer brand, the large SUV based on military vehicles.
He also announced that GM has approved production of the Chevrolet Volt, a so-called plug-in hybrid vehicle that can run about 40 miles without any use of gasoline. That is due in showrooms by the end of 2010. .
The plans were announced ahead of GM's (
GM,
Fortune 500) annual meeting Tuesday. It follows similar plans unveiled last month by rival Ford Motor (
F,
Fortune 500), although Ford did not give details of plant closing plans.
