About 1,200 workers at General Motors Co.’s Detroit-area all-electric assembly plant will be laid off as the company downsizes to a single shift in response to the slowing U.S. electric vehicle market.
The company also will cut 550 jobs at its joint-venture Ultium Cells battery cell plant in Ohio, with another 850 slated for temporary layoff. The Ultium Cells’ Tennessee plant will temporarily lay off 700 workers.
Layoffs at the Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center and multiple battery plants reflect a rapid pullback in EV production as GM adjusts to a U.S. EV market no longer bolstered by $7,500 tax credits for buyers and lessees.
Automakers also expect to soon be free of expensive government fines for greenhouse gas emissions that pushed EV manufacturing ahead of market demand. Both policy changes were backed by President Donald Trump.
“In response to slower near-term EV adoption and an evolving regulatory environment, General Motors is realigning EV capacity,” according to a company statement issued Wednesday. “Despite these changes, GM remains committed to our U.S. manufacturing footprint, and we believe our investments and dedication to flexible operations will make GM more resilient and capable of leading through change. Impacted employees may be eligible for SUB pay and benefits in accordance with the National GM-UAW Agreement.”
EV sales have plummeted since the federal tax credit ended at the end of September, a deadline that had caused a last-minute surge in sales.
From the last full sales week of September to the first full week of October, EV sales at dealerships fell 74%, according to Cloud Theory, which tracks car inventory on dealer websites across the country. And while some automakers were able to sell down much of their electric inventories before the deadline, GM still had about 39,000 EVs on dealer lots as of midway through this month, the firm said.
GM on Wednesday said Factory Zero, which went offline this week, will remain shut down until Nov. 24 when it will run two shifts until the holiday break. It will only operate one shift when it reopens Jan. 5 after the holidays.
About 2,000 employees will stay on at Factory Zero, spokesperson Kevin Kelly said. Cuts will be based on seniority.
The all-electric plant has repeatedly cut shifts and slowed production this year, including axing a shift each for the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Escalade IQ, amid sluggish EV sales.
“Unfortunately, right now, we don’t have the support that we’re looking for,” said UAW Local 22 President James Cotton, whose union chapter represents workers at Factory Zero. “And hopefully down the line that will pick back up.”
Cotton said it was “too premature at this moment” to say how many of the affected workers would have the opportunity to relocate and find work at other GM facilities.
“When you’re talking about the UAW and GM, we’re always trying to get our employees located somewhere where they can still have employment,” he said.
Ultium Cells plants in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and Warren, Ohio, will pause operations starting Jan. 5 and continuing through at least May, Kelly said.
“During the temporary pause Ultium Cells plans to make upgrades to both facilities to provide greater flexibility,” according to a GM statement. “Ultium Cells will continue to evaluate and adapt production plans based on evolving market needs.”
Kelly said more layoffs are coming at two other sites. GM’s Pontiac Metal Center, a Metro Detroit stamping plant that supplies parts for Factory Zero, will temporarily lay off 45 workers and New York’s Rochester Operations, which makes electric vehicle battery cooling lines supplied to Factory Zero, will temporarily idle 74 employees. Both actions will take effect Nov. 17.
GM is not alone as it scales back plans for EV battery production.
Ford Motor Co. has delayed production plans at major battery plants it has a stake in, while a Stellantis NV partnership isn’t moving forward with major parts of its originally-planned battery factory footprint. Numerous battery projects have been scrapped, delayed or mothballed.
Automakers are in many cases rethinking their entire game plan for EVs under Trump, pivoting more to hybrids and big-engine trucks, pausing EV assembly lines, and in some instances ― including with GM ― altogether stripping EV-related production equipment out of factories.
Washington Correspondent Grant Schwab and Staff Writer Luke Ramseth contributed to this report.
