QUITO  General Motors' factory in Ecuador will shutter production on Friday amid pressure from local competitors, but will still sell vehicles in the Andean country.

The Cadillac and Chevrolet maker said in April it would close its production operations in Ecuador and neighbouring Colombia.

General Motors' OBB plant in Quito accounts for 51% of car production in Ecuador.

The factory's 320 workers fear for their livelihoods. Ecuador's unemployment in the first quarter of the year was 4.1%, according to official figures.

"I have mixed feelings - I'm welding my last truck for General Motors in Ecuador," said welding team leader Antonio Oramas, who joined the plant in 2004. "It will affect us a lot. Not all of us will have the same opportunity for a new job."

  - Reuters