A call for 1,350 employees to assembly lines by General Motors on Tuesday in order to boost production to meet surging requirements for fuel-efficient vehicles.

Five weeks after raising from bankruptcy protection, GM said that it would increase production at several North America assembly plants, by doing overtime, adding shifts, and cancelling scheduled plant shutdowns.

The Detroit, Michigan-based automaker stated that it would add about 60,000 vehicles in the third and mainly the fourth quarter production forecast, “ensuring a wide selection of high-quality, fuel-efficient cars, crossovers and trucks for customers.”

Production shifts will be added to its plants in Lords town, Ohio, and at CAMI Automotive Inc., a joint venture with Suzuki Motor Corporation headquartered in Ontario, Canada.

The extra shifts will add on the number of employees represented by the United Auto Workers and Canadian Auto Workers unions.“This will bring approximately 1,350 UAW and CAW employees back to the assembly lines,” stated GM, the former world leader in auto manufacturing that is presently 60 percent owned by the US government.

GM stated that the government’s popular “cash-for-clunkers” program of sales incentives had produced substantial requirement in July and August for a broad range of its fuel-efficient vehicles.

The “cash-for-clunkers” program pays consumers up to 4,500 dollars to trade in a gasoline-guzzler in exchange for a “greener” vehicle.

“This latest round of production increases will go a long way in rebuilding dealer inventories to help us meet strong consumer demand,” the company said.

GM, which raised from bankruptcy protection on July 10, has been primarily downsizing its operations over the last four years as it strives to compete with bleeding balance sheets and a steady loss of market share to Asian rivals.

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