DETROIT — General Motors’ decision to shut down 13 assembly plants for up to 11 weeks this summer will disrupt far more than the lives of nearly 24,000 workers, rippling out to damage part suppliers, local businesses and state economies.
The Detroit automaker had little choice. GM, surviving on $13.4 billion in federal loans, must steady itself, slash costs and align production levels with the shrunken demand if it wants to live much longer. The announcement Thursday comes as GM races the government’s June 1 deadline to squeeze deeper concessions from bondholders and the United Auto Workers union.
The decision is expected to lead to thousands more layoffs and temporary factory closures as GM works out its schedules for engine, transmission and parts stamping factories.
That’s bad new for Lordstown, Ohio, where GM operates side-by-side assembly and stamping plants, which account for about 70 percent of the village’s annual $4 million municipal budget.
