GM Cuts Spending to Limit Japanese Crisis Fallout

As the days pass by, it seems there will be no quick recovery of the Japanese automotive industry in sight. Having hit first the Japanese auto makers, the shortage of parts resulted from the freeze in production for a little over a week now is slowly beginning to take its toll on the car makers from other continents as well.

Among the first to feel the pressure of the gap in deliveries, GM already announced late last week that it would be closing the Shreveport, Louisiana facility, where it manufactures the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, for the entire week of March 21. Now, as it appears, GM is getting ready for what may be a longer halt in production.

According to The Truth About Cars, the American giant is trying to limit the financial damages already or soon-to-be caused by the shortage of Japanese parts by trying to cut, or at least limit spending.

The Star Tribune cites a GM spokesman as saying that the cut of non-essential spending (details on what that means were not provided, but apparently non-essential spending includes travel costs) has been halted on a global level, as a means to cope with whatever loss might arise from the Japanese crisis.

“The whole industry is still in the process of figuring out what the implications are from the disaster in Japan," GM spokesman Klaus-Peter Martin told The Star Tribune.

In addition to cutting spending, GM announced that it would cut two out of three shifts at the Eisenach, Germany facility for two days, on Monday and Tuesday. The Zaragoza, Spain plant has been closed as well for Monday, March 21.