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DETROIT — General Motors is cutting production of its all-electric
BrightDrop delivery vans at a plant in Canada and will idle the facility through much of this year.
The plant will be reduced from two shifts to one shift — eliminating 500
jobs — after being idled beginning next month for roughly 20 weeks until October. Battery pack assembly at the plant also will be down for two
weeks before the prolonged shutdown.
The Detroit automaker on Friday confirmed the plans for its CAMI assembly
plant in Ontario and said the decisions are not related to President
Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“This adjustment is directly related to responding to market demand and re-balancing inventory. Production of BrightDrop and EV battery assembly
will remain at CAMI,” GM said in an emailed statement.
Lana Payne, president of Canadian union Unifor, which represents workers
at the plant, described the actions as a “crushing blow to hundreds of
working families in Ingersoll and the surrounding region who depend on
this plant.”
“General Motors must do everything in its power to mitigate job loss
during this downturn, and all levels of government must step up to support Canadian auto workers and Canadian-made products,” Payne said in a
release.
GM launched its BrightDrop vans as a fully owned subsidiary in 2021,
before folding it into the company’s fleet business in 2023. It then
folded BrightDrop into its Chevrolet brand in 2024.
GM had high expectations of making BrightDrop into a new, lucrative growth business for the automaker, but sales and revenue did not meet the
company’s initial expectations.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/gm-cutting-jobs-idling-canadian- electric-van-plant-due-market-demand-rcna200931
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