GM truck plants get extended lives

GM will extend the run of a plant in New Jersey as demand for trucks is expected to last longer than originally expected, The Wall Street Journal reported. GM also will keep production running at a Baltimore plant, where it makes Chevrolet Astro and GMC Safari minivan models, until the summer of 2005. Citing a GM spokesman, the paper said the New Jersey plant that produces the Chevrolet Blazer, Chevy S-10 and GMC Sonoma pickup models will keep running until summer of 2005. Production at the facility was previously expected to wrap up in the third quarter of 2004. The Baltimore plant's run was expected to have ended in the third quarter of 2003. The two plants combined employ 3,513 hourly and 322 salaried workers, according to The Wall Street Journal. The plants operate with only one shift compared to three shifts at other GM factories.