GM cutting production amid slow demand

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp said on Friday it plans additional temporary plant shutdowns in the next two months in response to deteriorating market demand.

The latest production cuts come at a time when GM, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC are seeking a government bailout to survive a severe downturn in demand that has forced most automakers around the world to cut output.

GM spokesman Tony Sapienza said the company will shut down its plants in Lordstown, Ohio; Orion, Michigan; and Fairfax, Kansas, for the week of January 5.

GM also plans to idle one of the production lines at its Oshawa, Ontario, plant in the week of January 12, and a plant in Wentzville, Missouri, in the week of December 8, Sapienza added.

The five plants, which build a broad array of vehicles from mid- and full-size pickup trucks to cars, SUVs and crossovers, together employ about 16,000 workers.

Sapienza said there will be no permanent workforce reductions at the plants.

GM has slashed production at a number of its North American plants this year in response to a decline in U.S. industry-wide auto sales to 25-year lows.

(Reporting by Soyoung Kim, editing by Matthew Lewis)