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General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) is not the only auto company in a world of hurt. Its vendors are as well. One of its larger suppliers, American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AXL) will likely be handing out buyout offers to a reported 2,000 U.S. workers. the official word will probably come tomorrow, when American Axlereports its Q2 earnings.

Expect more of this. As GM and other automakers like Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) reduce auto shipments, rearrange their product mixes and re-evaluate global strategies, the larger suppliers to those companies will see various levels of hits against them. Unfortunately, the U.S. auto industry is in for more hits throughout the remainder of 2008.

American Axle has an estimated 3,650 hourly workers in the U.S. -- so giving buyout offers to over half of them is a pretty significant step. In addition to that, between 200 and 350 U.S. salaried jobs with American Axle are being eliminated. The company also announced that it was reducing its average labor-hour cost down from above the $73 level to somewhere in the $40 range, saving it in the neighborhood of $300 million per year.

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