General Motors yesterday announced a major corporate restructuring plan that will close four truck plants outside the state, and the Grand Rapids Press reports that the shift may actually bring more jobs to Michigan.

Under the plan, GM will decrease its production of its truck and SUV lines (including the possible elimination of the once mighty Hummer line) in favor of more fuel-efficient, compact and alternative fuel vehicles. Industry analysts expect much of the work to be done in Michigan, where GM will add a third shift to a Lake Orion assembly plant and begin producing four-cylinder engines in Flint.

Further encouraging for the troubled state was the GM board’s decision to move ahead with production of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric hybrid, tentatively slated for market release in 2010. The hybrid, which has already made a distinct impression on the industry, is expected to be manufactured at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant.

“That’s very good news because Michigan really needs to diversify away from producing bigger vehicles,” said Erich Merkle, an auto industry analysts for the Grand Rapids-based firm IRN Inc.

According to GM sources, the financially troubled company hopes to boost production of cars to encompass 60 percent of its total output, up from 50 percent, by 2010.