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Will Rick Wagoner survive his own purge at General Motors? Or will he be bought out, retired early or shown the door like so many of his long-serving GM brethren?

There's no quick and easy solution, but perceptions could help greatly.

The shutdown of the ION line will affect between 1,200 and 1,500 employees who work on that line, or work in other parts of the plant to feed that line. But union officials said this morning that the number of jobs eliminated will vary depending on the early retirement packages offered and the new product line that GM could bring to Spring Hill in 2007.

The plant closings cut a swath across the manufacturing heartland, from U.S. Southern states on up into Canada. All the major plants affected were operating below capacity as of last year, Harbour Consulting reported. GM's goal is to have all facilities at full production by 2008.

General Motors' Lordstown Assembly Plant may benefit from the impending closing of a Saturn assembly line in Tennessee. The Lordstown plant, which now makes Chevrolet Cobalt small cars, is being considered as the next site to build the Saturn ION when the line at Saturn's Spring Hill plant closes. A decision may come as soon as next month, according to a Lordstown United Auto Workers official.

Even the possible phaseout of GM's Saturn division, Lutz said, was in the works well before Congress demanded that GM produce a so-called viability plan by December 2 to show it can become self-sufficient and pay back its loans. Saturn has its best-reviewed product lineup in years, including the Aura sedan. But GM management made a proactive move to look at phasing out the brand because its sales didn't match the critical acclaim. "We had to reassess. There's simply not enough money to support a...

Midstate automotive suppliers were in a wait-and-see mode yesterday to determine what effects General Motors' plans to stop assembling ION vehicles at Spring Hill will have on them.

Midstate automotive suppliers were in a wait-and-see mode yesterday to determine what effects General Motors' plans to stop assembling ION vehicles at Spring Hill will have on them.

Lawmakers and government officials respond to General Motors Corp. plans to shut down the Saturn Ion manufacturing line in Spring Hill in 2006.

Saturn once billed itself as "a different kind of company" making "a different kind of car," but after a promising start, Saturn let the car's look and technology get stale. New models were finally introduced, but to mixed results. The Ion production line was shut down for at least 15 weeks in 2004 as sales failed to meet the company's expectations.

Salaried workers at General Motors Corp. will also see their numbers fall next year, by about 7%, as the automaker continues to cut jobs through attrition, Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said Monday. Hourly workers will bear the brunt of GM's plans to stop production at 12 plants and facilities in North America by the end of 2008. Wagoner said GM wants to eliminate 30,000 hourly jobs in North America by that time.

Employees found out about GM's cuts through meetings at the plant, but some heard the news on the car radio. "And the guy says okay, GM is closing nine plants, and they're closing the Spring Hill operations. That's exactly what he said," said Mary Gandy, a Saturn Employee. But, what she heard was not exactly accurate.

A new chapter in the Saturn business story is unfolding in Spring Hill: An assembly plant originally designed to stave off encroaching Japanese automakers is stuck trying to figure out its place in the long-term plans of its sputtering parent company, General Motors.

Contrary to what some news outlets are reporting today, General Motors is not closing its Spring Hill, Tennessee manufacturing facility.

Employees here are looking for the silver lining in General Motors' announcement that it would shut down the ION production line, about half of the plant's auto output. Some are counting on GM to retool the plant so it can make different vehicles.