General Motors Corp. will temporarily layoff hourly workers at two powertrain plants in Ohio as the company adjusts production amid weak demand in the U.S. auto industry.

About 100 hourly workers will be laid off for a week on Monday at the GM Powertrain plant in Defiance, about 54 miles southwest of Toledo. And on Feb. 23, about 1,200 hourly workers will be laid off during a one-week shutdown at the foundry, where workers make various components such as clutch housings, crank shafts and cylinder blocks, GM spokeswoman Lynda Messina said.

About 1,500 hourly and salaried employees work at the plant.

On Feb. 23, about 250 hourly workers will be laid off for a week at the GM Powertrain plant in Toledo, which produces six-speed transmissions for trucks and cars. The plant employs about 1,450 hourly and salaried workers.

The moves come less than three weeks after GM announced it was eliminating a shift at its Delta Township plant near Lansing and in Lordstown, Ohio, collectively affecting about 2,000 workers. The automaker also said it would temporarily idle production at 10 other plants across North America during the first or second quarter.

GM announced unprecedented production cuts late last year that included the temporary closure of 20 plants across North America to cut costs and shave inventory in response to the industry-wide sales slump. Those cuts hit 20 assembly plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico and, combined with an earlier announcement, meant 250,000 fewer vehicles were being produced this quarter.

“We have to make adjustments to keep things in line with our assembly customer plants,” Messina said today.

GM saw its US sales fall 49 percent last month and 22.7 percent last year, according to Autodata Corp.



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