A Lot More of This is Coming Down the Pike

General Motors Corp. announced today it plans to cut 25,000 jobs in the United States over the next three years by closing various assembly and component plants, a move brought on by both a cooling of the American love affair with the mighty SUV and rapidly spiking health care costs.

Rick Wagoner, chairman and chief executive of GM, told an annual shareholder's meeting in Wilmington, Del., this morning that the undisclosed plant closings will save the world's largest automaker an estimated $2.5 billion a year once completed. He said the job losses were prompted by a "sudden downturn in performance" in the U.S. market.