GM will cut thousands of jobs in Michigan, Tennessee and Ohio - "In response to slower near-term EV adoption and an evolving regulatory environment"

[Zoidz]

NBC - General Motors said Wednesday that it plans to lay off about 1,200 workers at its Detroit-area all-electric factory and cut 550 jobs at its Ultium battery cell facility in Ohio.

GM will also temporarily lay off 850 workers at the Ohio plant and another 700 employees in Tennessee.

“In response to slower near-term EV adoption and an evolving regulatory environment, General Motors is realigning EV capacity,” the company said. “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.”

“Ultium Cells is adjusting production in response to recent changes in customer plant demand,” the company added. “As part of this alignment, battery cell production at the Spring Hill, Tennessee and Warren, Ohio facilities will be temporarily paused beginning January 2026. Impacted employees may be eligible to continue receiving a significant portion of their regular wages or salary, plus benefits.”

The news comes amid declining consumer interest and demand in electric vehicles after the Trump administration rescinded a $7,500 tax credit for buyers.

“We anticipate resuming operations cell production at both sites by mid-2026,” the company continued.

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[Great Gatsby]

Hasn't even been a month and they are deciding to close shop? What a forward thinking company. If these companies truly believe that EVs survival depended on the tax credit, then that is a very sad state of affairs.

 

[COdogman]

The weasel wording of that announcement makes me sick. "evolving regulatory environment"

 

[SASSquatch]

Don't blame GM, blame the anti-EV and anti-climate policies being put forward by this administration. GM is reacting to those policy changes. All of the massive investments that were made in the last 4 years were due to favorable policy and regulatory environments and substantial government investments.

Elections have consequences. GM is a for-profit company and has to evaluate the market and understand what people want and can afford. EVs are not high on most peoples list right now because of the cost and China is killing the competition because they were smart enough to lean in on EVs early and they smartly subsidize both consumers and OEMs.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Don't blame GM, blame the anti-EV and anti-climate policies being put forward by this administration. GM is reacting to those policy changes. All of the massive investments that were made in the last 4 years were due to favorable policy and regulatory environments and substantial government investments.

I agree with this. But didn't "big auto" also lobby hard for less regulations on their ICE vehicle operations? Now it's the whole "leopards eating faces". They wanted less regulation but didn't count on this administration backstabbing them with massive tariffs, cutting off the credits (which were originally intended to last through December 31, 2032), etc.

 

[SASSquatch]

I agree with this. But didn't "big auto" also lobby hard for less regulations on their ICE vehicle operations? Now it's the whole "leopards eating faces". They wanted less regulation but didn't count on this administration backstabbing them with massive tariffs, cutting off the credits (which were originally intended to last through December 31, 2032), etc.

They will lobby hard for whatever puts them in the best financial position. That is the nature of companies that are for profit especially in an industry that is ripe with competition. Margins are getting smaller, labor and costs are getting higher. US OEMs can't compete with China on EVs and they know it.

Ford CEO Jim Farley got his hands on a Xiaomi SU7 EV and after driving it for a while realized how superior it was in terms of tech and built with much lower cost compared to the US/rest of the world (i.e. they're 'ed).

 

[emoore]

Well goodbye american auto industry. Tesla and Rivian will be the next big 2 against a bunch of foreign competitors. Mostly will be Chinese competition.. US consumers don't really care where their stuff comes from, they just want cheaper stuff so they can survive. Sad but true.

 

[Nixapatfan]

Seems people are overreacting here, they are adjusting for slower demand, not outright canceling EVs. A little rich to think the company that has close to 10 ev models and more coming will be beat by a company that only has 2.

 

[SASSquatch]

Well goodbye american auto industry. Tesla and Rivian will be the next big 2 against a bunch of foreign competitors. Mostly will be Chinese competition.. US consumers don't really care where their stuff comes from, they just want cheaper stuff so they can survive. Sad but true.

In China, the government is incentivizing industry to lean forward in terms of tech and reducing their dependency on foreign fossil fuel. Especially since they corner the market in rare earth materials that go into batteries.

In this country we have disincentivized industry to lean forward into tech solutions to fossil fuel and rolled back incentives, thrown up regulatory hurdles, and have incentivized investment back into vehicles that are primarily or secondarily fossil fuel run. Fossil fuel run by companies who receive nearly 1 Trillion dollars in direct/indirect subsidies every year while they stack record profits.

Meanwhile we are taxing everything with a tariff raising the cost of nearly everything we import, we have added to the national debt to the tune of 1 Trillion dollars in 71 days (hey, records!) and the Chinese are laughing all the way to the bank. We are doomed because of the ignorance of our policy makers.

 

[skyguyscott]

Stellantis, GM and even Ford are no longer led by CEOs driven to make great vehicles, rather the executive suite is focused on maximizing profit in the medium and short term, because that is how they are rewarded. The vehicles they churn out are as cheaply built, and as unsafe, and as inefficient as government regulations allow them to be, but priced as high as the market will bear. If allowed and if it would increase their profits, they would move their manufacturing to the poorest country in the world and work enslaved child laborers to their horrific deaths. Because history. Never mind that these decisions will come back to bite them several years hence, and they are driving these once proud companies into the dirt, because they will have cashed out long before then. Because late stage capitalism.

 

[mkg3]

Seems people are overreacting here, they are adjusting for slower demand, not outright canceling EVs. A little rich to think the company that has close to 10 ev models and more coming will be beat by a company that only has 2.

Agree. The expiration of EV incentives pulled so much demand forward that EV sales in October was down well over 75% YOY. The industry is expecting the EV sales to normalize by the end of 26Q1~26Q2. GM is pausing given their existing inventory levels of cells and EVs.

I'm guessing that since it is a mid model year now from the production perspective, when GM starts back up, the focus would be on their 2027 models at the mid year point.

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