GM Plans 10 Weeks of Downtime at Truck Plants

General Motors Co. intends to idle the three North American factories that build its fullsize pickup trucks for a combined total of 10 weeks as it retools to produce next-generation models.

GM plans to introduce the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups in the U.S. in the second quarter.

But the company also is suffering from bloated inventories of the current-generation trucks. U.S. stockpiles grew to 117-day supply (234,300 trucks) about twice the ideal supply on Jan. 31 from 80 days a month earlier.

GM has said it is aiming for a slightly larger inventory this winter to compensate for changeover downtime.

The stockpile build-up occurred despite surging U.S. sales of the Silverado (+32% to 35,400 units) and Sierra (+35% to 12,800 units) in January. GM has been offering cash incentives of as much as $4,750 per vehicle on those models.

The company aims to spur sales of Sierra light-duty trucks this month with a new offer of free standard maintenance for two years or 24,000 miles.