Nov 2018
GM Announces Possible Closure of Five Plants Due to New Direction
As the future of the automotive industry continues to take shape, GM has announced a major change to their North American infrastructure. The plan includes the closure of up to five plants throughout North America, as well as two more outside the continent. This reduction is tied in part to GM’s model cuts, which include the Buick Lacrosse, Cadillac’s CT6 and STS, and Chevrolet’s Cruze, Impala, and Volt. The shut downs would result in a 15% cut in GM’s North American workforce, roughly 8,000 employees.
“The actions we are taking today continue our transformation to be highly agile, resilient and profitable, while giving us the flexibility to invest in the future,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “We recognize the need to stay in front of changing market conditions and customer preferences to position our company for long-term success.”
GM expects to experience $6 billion in savings by 2020 due to these moves. According to the automaker, they’re projecting these savings based on a plan to transform product development, optimize product portfolio, increase capacity utilization, and through a staffing transformation.
According to the automaker,
- Our newest products – from the Chevrolet Traverse and Blazer to the Cadillac XT4 crossover – are in growth segments.
- We continue to expand our truck portfolio, including an all-new Silverado LD work truck, the all-new Silverado medium duty models and an all-new Silverado HD launching next year.
- We are not exiting the passenger car business. At Chevrolet, for example, the Spark, Sonic, Malibu, Camaro and Corvette are not impacted by today’s announcements. And we are investing in a plant in Lansing to build the next generation of Cadillac luxury cars.
- Our vision remains a world with zero crashes, zero congestion and zero emissions, and we continue to drive innovation in vehicle electrification with products like the Chevrolet Bolt EV.
The official announcement on GM’s website can be found here:
