The Ultium Cell factory in Warren, Ohio, shown July 7, 2023.
Gene J. Puskar | P.A.
General engines About 1,700 workers were laid off at manufacturing sites in Michigan and Ohio on Wednesday, citing a slowing electric vehicle market.
The company confirmed that there was approximately 1,200 layoffs at the Detroit electric vehicle plant and 550 job cuts at the Ultium Cells battery cell plant in Ohio, in addition to 850 temporary layoffs at that Ohio site. The company also announced it would temporarily lay off 700 people at the Ultium Cells plant in Tennessee.
“In response to slowing electric vehicle adoption in the near term and a changing regulatory environment, General Motors is realigning its electric vehicle capacity,” the company said in a statement. “Despite these changes, GM remains committed to its U.S. manufacturing footprint, and we believe our investments and commitment to flexible operations will make GM more resilient and capable of leading change.”
GM also said battery cell production at its Ohio and Tennessee facilities would be temporarily suspended starting in January. It plans to resume operations at both battery cell sites by mid-2026 and will use this pause to upgrade its facilities.
Wednesday’s layoffs follow the company’s announcement last week that it would cut more than 200 employees, mostly engineers, from its global technology campus in metro Detroit as part of a restructuring effort.
After September, federal incentives of up to $7,500 for electric vehicle purchases were phased out, leaving consumers rushing to use the benefit before it expired. Although plug-in vehicle sales hit records for many automakers in the third quarter, that demand is expected to decline after the market shutdown.
GM previously reported that its electric vehicle sales more than doubled in the third quarter from a year earlier, a trend that other automakers like. Ford engine and Hyundai saw it too.
“We continue to believe that there is a bright future for electric vehicles and that we have a great portfolio to be competitive, but we need to make some structural changes to ensure that we reduce the cost of producing these vehicles,” CFO Paul Jacobson told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau on “Squawk Box” last week.
Yet GM’s third-quarter results last week included a $1.6 billion hit from its all-electric vehicle plans not going as planned, signaling that the company was re-evaluating its electric vehicle manufacturing capacity and processes.
The Detroit News first reported the layoffs.