GM Says Strikes Cost It $2.85 Billion

General Motors Corp. on Friday put the cost of two paralyzing strikes in Flint, Mich., at $2.85 billion, representing a production loss of 545,000 cars and trucks.

The nation’s largest auto maker disclosed in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the strikes, which lasted nearly eight weeks at two parts plants in Flint, cost the company $1.65 billion in the third quarter, on top of the $1.2 billion it lost in the second quarter ended June 30.

Including the $900 million GM lost from the 1996 strike at two Dayton, Ohio, brake plants and other walkouts, labor disruptions have cost GM more than $4 billion over the last two years.

GM said the estimated losses from the Flint strikes that began in early June did not take into account income it may recoup from increased future production. GM Chairman Jack Smith said last week that he expected the final cost of the strikes to be about $2 billion after some of the production was made up.

At its peak, a lack of parts forced GM to shut down 27 of its 29 North American production operations and temporarily lay off about 193,000 nonstriking employees.

The walkouts ended July 28, and GM was able to resume full production about 10 days later.

Merrill Lynch analyst Nicholas Lobaccaro said the losses were about what analysts had expected.