Happy Thanksgiving?

G.M. Announces 30,000 Job Cuts

General Motors Corp. announced plans Monday to cut 30,000 manufacturing jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand.

Rick Wagoner, chairman and chief executive of the world's largest automaker, announced the closures during a speech to employees from G.M.'s Detroit headquarters before the financial markets opened.

Among the plants that could be involved in the announcement is G.M.'s factory in Janesville, Wis., where workers have begun a drive to save the facility from shutting down. The auto company also could cut production at its Saturn plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., which opened to fanfare in 1990 after more than 30 states competed for the project