General Motors Corp. said Tuesday it will lay off nearly 3,000 hourly workers at its Lansing Car Assembly plant later this spring.
The plant makes the Pontiac Grand Am and the Chevrolet Classic, which is the fleet version of the Chevrolet Malibu. Both models are being discontinued, so production at the plant is ending, GM spokesman Stefan Weinmann said. The replacement for the Grand Am, the Pontiac G6, is made at GM's assembly plant in Lake Orion.
GM informed workers of the closure Tuesday, Weinmann said. The company expects to close the plant around May 20, but the exact date will be determined by the number of final orders the company receives.
The plant's 250 salaried workers will be transferred to other locations, Weinmann said. Many of the 2,950 hourly employees are expected to fill positions at GM's new Lansing Delta Township Assembly Plant, which is under construction but expected to start production in 2006. Weinmann said that plant will employ 2,900 people and will be hiring late this year or early next year.
GM, which also announced Tuesday that its February sales fell 12.7 percent from last year, already has slowed production at Lansing's two other GM plants this year because of a backlog of unsold vehicles.