General Motors Corp. (GM) has informed the United Auto Workers union that the auto maker delayed production plans for a Chevrolet Malibu slated to be built in Fairfax, Kansas, in the near future. It is the second product program GM has told the UAW it is delaying in recent days.

In an informational flyer distributed to UAW employees in Lordstown, Ohio, and posted on UAW Local 1112's Web site, union officials told workers they had been given "news from the corporation that they have suspended two new vehicle programs for North America." Local 1112 is one of two union locals representing more than 4,000 workers in Lordstown, where GM builds smaller cars, including the Chevrolet Cobalt.

On Tuesday, Dow Jones Newswires reported GM had told the UAW that it is halting development of its so-called Delta vehicle program. Lordstown builds Delta-based cars and officials there have been negotiating a new labor agreement that would allow GM to cut labor costs at the plant in return for being awarded the next round of Delta cars, slated for production in 2009.

The flyer posted on the Local 1112 site mentions the Delta program suspension, and said that GM has "also delayed the Epsilon program which was under construction at the Fairfax, Kansas, assembly plant where they currently build the Chevy Malibu."

While the threat to delay the Delta small car is seen as potential political posturing by GM in an effort to win UAW cooperation, delaying Epsilon production plans could hurt GM in the near term, as it aims to revive its position in the U.S. market. The Malibu, which is slated to be launched as a redesigned vehicle in the near future, is aimed at better competing with Toyota Motor Corp.'s ™ Camry sedan.

Meantime, a UAW official at the Lordstown facility said talks on the agreement - dubbed a Competitive Operating Agreement - have been cut off by high-level UAW officials in Detroit. The UAW and GM had been negotiating cost cuts, such as the outsourcing of several jobs, up until Wednesday, this official said.