Detroit ? General Motors will keep open about 900 dealerships across the country that it had planned to close, a shift in corporate strategy that could preserve thousands of jobs.

The automaker will wind up with about 5,000 U.S. dealers in July, up from original plans for 4,100, Mark Reuss, GM’s North America president, told The Associated Press. It had about 6,000 when it filed for bankruptcy last year.

The change represents a desire by GM’s new leadership team to avoid the expense of closing dealerships, a step they say is not critical to bring the company back to profits.

Also Tuesday, General Motors Co. said it was recalling about 1.5 million vehicles worldwide to address a problem with a heated windshield wiper fluid system that could lead to a fire, its second recall over the issue in two years.

The recall affects several pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, crossovers and passenger car models from the 2006 to 2009 model years. GM conducted a similar recall in 2008 but came across new reports of fires in vehicles that had been fixed.