ST. LOUIS -- A General Motors plant in the St. Louis suburb of Wentzville will remain open.

The Detroit-based automaker said Monday it was permanently closing nine plants and idling another three to cut costs under bankruptcy protection.

The good news for the St. Louis area is that the Wentzville plant is not on the list of plants that are closing. Wentzville is in St. Charles County, about 145 miles from Cape Girardeau, 40 miles west of St. Louis.

GM's Wentzville plant employs about 2,000 workers who manufacture Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans. A Malibu and Saturn Aura plant in Kansas City, Kan., is also not on the closure list.