The company's U.S. sales are down 16 percent this year alone. GM predicts sales of fourteen million vehicles in the U.S. this year. That's down from seventeen million, three years ago.

Amid rising gasoline prices and slumping U.S. sales, international auto giant General Motors announced a plan Tuesday [July 15th] to cut expenses and shift production to more fuel-efficient cars. Company officials say they will lay off workers, cut truck production and suspend its stock dividend. VOA's Jeff Swicord Reports.