According to the Wall Street Journal, General Motors has announced that it will give up some of its brands and will cut down thousands of white-collar jobs in an effort to return to profitability around 2010. The company’s shares rose 2.4 percent after the article appeared in the newspaper.

The changes will be revised and have all the chances of being voted by the company’s board of directors which will meet in August. Information as to which of the brands are going to be sold or have their production stopped hasn’t been made, but it is very unlikely that the company will give up its two most popular ones, Cadillac and Chevrolet.

The European brand Saab does not share the same optimistic prognosis. The brand has been quite a problem for GM for years, losing a lot of money for the company, and has all the chances of being let go by it. General Motors has already put its Hummer brand for sale, but experts think that there are little chances for it to make more than $1 billion for the company.

The employees who are most likely to lose their jobs are truck designer engineers, since the company will probably start focusing on offering more light, less consuming cars.

General Motors has to take these measures in order to keep its business floating. The company has fallen 59 percent this year, due to the weakening economy. The housing crisis, the problems it had with its suppliers, and the increase in gas prices, which raised demands for cars that consume less, as opposed to GM’s SUV focus, have brought the company on the verge of a disaster.