General Motors' plan to temporarily close 13 assembly plants in North America will have no impact on its Thai unit, said Sasinan Allmand, a spokeswoman for GM Thailand

The suspension in the US had nothing to do with the automaker's financial status, she said.

"The local operation is operating as normal. The suspension in the US was aimed at better managing inventory and to enable the company to launch new products as planned," she said.

"The cut in production of the parent company has nothing to do with speculation that GM will enter bankruptcy."

GM, located in Detroit, announced last week that it would temporarily shut down 13 assembly plants in the US and Mexico for nine weeks to manage an inventory surplus. It insisted on a fast restructuring process to get its business in shape quickly.

Mrs Sasinan said the Thai unit continued to have a healthy financial status and hoped to see a rebound in sales in the near future.

"Government policies to revive local economic conditions and improvement in the world economy will help stimulate demand," she said.

The GM factory in Thailand is running at about 30% of its maximum capacity, producing 44,000 vehicles per month.

"By keeping our capacity utilisation rate at one-third, our 2,000 contract employees are not at risk of losing their jobs. We have no plans to further cut employment," she said.

It also has no plans to suspend operations, at least until the end of June, Mrs Sasinan added.

GM Thailand also expects to resume construction of its diesel engine plant as soon as it is granted loans from local banks.

"Good news is expected very soon. When we receive the money, the pending investment will proceed," she said.