It was only a couple of weeks back when we reported on the speculation about the end of the road for the SUV. Today GM announced the closure of 4 truck & SUV plants in Canada, Mexico and the US. (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada; Moraine, Ohio; Janesville, Wisconsin; and Toluca in Mexico.)

GM, the world's largest car manufacturer, is quoted as saying the sudden move is

"to aggressively respond to growing demand for fuel-efficient vehicles and to economic and market challenges in North America"

Now this may be seen as a victory for the green movement, this killing off the production of SUVs, but we have a couple of questions:

1. Why aren't GM swapping production for the fuel-efficient vehicles they say they want to make?
2. How many jobs are on the line and again why aren't GM safeguarding workers by swapping production from the SUV to small cars?

The job loss figures amount to about 2,900 jobs in Oshawa, about 2,800 in Janesville, about 2,400 in Moraine and about 250 in Toluca, according to GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson.

In this day and age isn't it time for companies to lose their blunt aggression? We like strength and leadership from companies but all out aggression is pretty tasteless. The loss of jobs and the failure to switch production seems ruthlessly short-sighted, even though making SUVs is being killed off for the long term. We don't get it.

Further to this all GM is considering what to do with its Hummer brand. That's laughable. They should have thought about that a few years back when the going was "good". Now they're left with a lame duck product that has always been hated by anyone with a brain (FUH2.com) and loved by those whose wallets are deeper than their egos.