The nation’s oldest auto brand is near the end of its road.

General Motors will phase out its Oldsmobile division over the next several years and reduce salaried employment by 10 percent in North America and Europe next year.

The moves, along with production cuts in Europe and North America, will lead to a special pre-tax charge of $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter. GM also said that its fourth-quarter earnings will be lower than estimates.

“We stretched to find profitable ways to further strengthen the Oldsmobile product line, including developing products with our global alliance partners, but in the current environment there was no workable solution,” GM president and CEO Rick Wagoner said today.

Troubled History In recent years, GM has denied repeated rumors about plans to end Oldsmobile. The automaker has defended its brand-management system as the best way to capture sales in a mature U.S. market for cars and trucks.

But, Wagoner today acknowledged that the brand has been in trouble for some time. “Over the years it’s truly been one of the crown jewels in General Motors’ empire. however Oldsmobile has been under increasing pressure for more than a decade as demographics and segmentation of the market have changed.”

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=88949&page=1

Must be true because it is difficult to find any new info on any Oldsmobile online.