GM to boost SUV, Cadillac CTS output

Detroit: General Motors will boost output of large sport-utility vehicles and the Cadillac CTS and build fewer Chevrolet Cobalt small cars through April as the biggest US automaker adjusts output to match demand.

Extra shifts are being added at the Arlington, Texas, plant that builds Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs, and at the Lansing, Michigan, factory assembling the CTS sedan, a GM spokeswoman said yesterday.

The Lordstown, Ohio, plant making the Cobalt will be idled for three weeks, GM's Kimberly Carpenter said.

The moves are a step toward the goal outlined this month by North America President Mark Reuss to find ways to increase production of the Detroit-based automaker's most in-demand vehicles.

GM's cutback at Lordstown also is intended to prepare for assembly of the Chevrolet Cruze, Carpenter said. That car is supposed to enter production in the third quarter as a Cobalt replacement.