The hybrid market is really taking its toll on the inventory at your local GMC truck dealer. With gas prices near $4 a gallon, people are increasingly turning to more efficient vehicles instead of the big trucks. As a result, GM is reducing the production of its trucks.
The production cuts are going to take place later this year in four GM factories in North America. In the United States, GM plans to reduce shifts at plants in two Michigan cities – Flint and Pontiac – as well as a plant in Janesville, Wisconsin. A plant in Oshawa, Ontario will also be affected. Nearly 140,000 fewer trucks will be manufactured this year, accounting for about 10 percent of this year’s predicted output for the region.
Unfortunately, this also means fewer jobs are available. More than 3,500 workers could be negatively affected by this decision. That’s only going to exacerbate the problem of joblessness combined with inflation and rising prices everywhere. The reduction in Michigan could be the hardest one for consumers to accept because of the state’s already flailing economy.
General Motors officials made the decision to cut production when sales figures from the first quarter of 2008 showed a 14 percent decline in sales for GM trucks and SUVs. On the bright side, officials also say that most workers get paid most of their wages for up to two years when the automaker can’t provide work for them to do.
That could be good news for some of those worried about getting laid off.
Since the early days of television, we have been fascinated by so-called “horror hosts,” spooky individuals who interspersed old horror films with bad jokes and shtick. The first of these was Vampira, whose name you may recognize from the Johnny Depp film Ed Wood. Loosely based on the character of Morticia Adams, Vampira served up a blend of dark humor and sex appeal along with old movies in the 1950s. Her success led to an explosion of independent television stations hiring their own horror hosts.