DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Motors Co will cut car production, stop building several slow-selling models, and slash its North American workforce, its biggest restructuring in North America since its bankruptcy a decade ago.
GM plans to halt production next year at three assembly plants - Lordstown, Ohio, Hamtramck, Michigan, and Oshawa, Ontario. The company also plans to stop building several models now assembled at those plants, including the Chevrolet Cruze, the Cadillac CT6 and the Buick LaCrosse.
GM said it will shift more investment to electric and autonomous vehicles.
The issue will be addressed in talks with the United Auto Workers union next year. GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra made calls early on Monday to disclose the plan.
“We are right sizing capacity for the realities of the marketplace” CEO Mary Barra said, adding that the cuts prompted by auto industry changes.
GM shares were last up 2.2 percent at $36.72 before being halted.
Cost pressures on GM and other automakers and suppliers have increased as demand waned for traditional sedans. The company has said tariffs on imported steel, imposed earlier this year by the Trump administration, have cost it $1 billion.
A Canadian union, Unifor, which represents most unionized auto workers in Canada, said Sunday it was informed by GM that there would be no product allocated to the plant in Oshawa, about 37 miles (60 km) from Toronto, after December 2019.
GM employs about 2,500 union staff in Oshawa, which produces both the Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS sedans. It also completes final assembly of the stronger-selling Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks, shipped from Indiana.
GM has begun what is expected to be a
