General Motors May Close 5 Major Production Plants In North America

General Motors will soon undergo a major reshuffle that might ruffle up some feathers. The automaker, one of the largest in the world, announced that it is considering shutting down 5 major plants in North America very soon as a part of its restructuring process to start making electric and autonomous cars. The automaker said that it will offer buyouts to nearly 14000 workers across these five plants and mass layoffs would follow soon. The announcement comes months after the automaker tried to shut down operations in South Korea. The automaker has also announced a 15 per cent salary cut for workers and a cut of 25 per cent of management position jobs across the board.

The plants affected include Lordstown in Warren, Ohio that makes the Chevrolet Cruise, the Detroit-Hamtramck Operations in Detroit, Michigan that makes the Buick Lacrosse, the Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Impala and the Cadillac CT6. Other plants in the United States includes the propulsion plants in White Marsh, Maryland that makes pickup truck transmissions and the transmission factory in Warren, Michigan that also makes gearboxes - mainly a 6-speed unit that is used across the board. General Motors will also shut down the Oshawa facility in Ontario, Canada that currently makes the Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XT range.

As one remembers, General Motors shut all local operations of the Chevrolet brand in India following dismal sales and no real product to take on competition. The automaker has since sold its facility in Halol, Gujarat to MG Motor that will start making SUVs very soon. The first SUV from MG will be a seven seater followed by an electric SUV in 2020.