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General Motors Corp. said Friday it will shut down its SUV assembly plant in Moraine, Ohio, on Dec. 23 as the company shifts focus to smaller vehicles.
GM spokesman Chris Lee said employees gathered in the plant Friday afternoon were informed of the closing date. Some 1,100 remaining workers are affected.
The automaker earlier this year announced plans to close the Moraine plant and three others by the summer of 2010, then accelerated shutdown plans as part of companywide cost-cutting moves.
Union leaders have said they were expecting the plant in this southern suburb of Dayton to shut down by January or February. Messages seeking comment were left for the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communication Workers of America.
GM recently reduced operations at the factory to a single shift, eliminating 400 to 500 jobs.
The company had planned a production break in December, but Lee said Friday the plant will keep up operations until the closing date to make sure all remaining customer orders are filled.
A slumping U.S. auto market and a shift from pickups and SUVs to smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles led to the shutdown plans.
The Moraine plant assembles the GMC Envoy, Chevrolet Trailblazer and Saab 9-7X. All three vehicles have seen their sales fall at least 30 percent through September, compared with the same period a year earlier.
GM turned down a $56 million tax credit and grant package from the Ohio Department of Development to keep the plant open.
The other plants GM (GM, Fortune 500) has said it will close are in Janesville, Wis.; Oshawa, Ontario; and Toluca, Mexico. The four closures combined will result in the loss of about 8,350 jobs.
