This story has been updated with official statements from General Motors, released on Monday.
General Motors will idle the Lordstown, Ohio, and Detroit-Hamtramck, Michigan, the automaker made official on Monday.
The Lordstown, Detroit-Hamtramck, and Oshawa, Ontario, plants will not be allocated any new product for 2019. GM did not name models, but it’s widely expected the Chevrolet Cruze, Volt, Impala, Buick LaCrosse, and Cadillac CT6 will die off with the idled plants. It’s been reported back in summer of 2017 that General Motors was planning on killing off these passenger cars, along with the Chevrolet Sonic and Cadillac XTS.
Lordstown has long been a prime candidate for closure as it builds a single vehicle only for the U.S. market: the Chevrolet Cruze sedan. The Cruze sedan and hatchback are also built in Mexico. The Mexican plant exports the Cruze hatchback to the U.S. and Canada, while the Mexico-made sedan is also exported to Canada.
All of the cars affected by the idled plant decisions were previously rumored to be on the corporate chopping block. However, GM did not confirm which nameplates will live on. Instead, it said it will “transform” its product development and allocate even greater resources to electric and self-driving vehicles. The automaker added 75 percent of its future vehicles will come from just five vehicle architectures by early next decade.
The plants will be idled until their futures are addressed when the United Auto Workers union and GM sit down next year to hash out a new agreement. The current union agreement expires next September. Two additional international plants will be closed next year as well, GM confirmed in its announcement. The automaker also plans to lay off 25 percent of its salaried workforce. All of its efforts will allegedly help the automaker save $6 billion by 2020.
Stay tuned as we learn more information.
Comments
That’s perhaps why GM will only hand-build a few Blackwing engines at Bowling Green. If CT6 is dying off, they will only need a few of them. I knew something was up with that.
Looks like everything Johan de Nysschen promised for Cadillac is slowly being canceled.
It looks like Machete Mary learned well from the failed Roger Smith and Bob Stempel….
CT6: Car & driver Verdict: Maybe it’s not the flagship, but the CT6 is a terrific driver’s car.
GM sure knows better…… very sad to read what GM has done to a wonderful car.! This would be x-mas gift for the imports, !
GM spent billions on these plants in recent years and now they are on the scrap heap. I wonder what idiot at GM thinks this is a good business practice?
CT6 Killed after a multi-billion dollar investment in the platform. No direct replacement or flagship sedan for Cadillac.
La Crosse killed- No direct replacement…
Volt killed- no direct replacement….
Impala killed- no direct replacement……
In addition, plants in Baltimore and Warren Michigan are to be shuttered.
Machete Mary delivered a lump of coal to GM’s workers and cities, and a gift of market share for other automakers- especially the imports.
Relax everyone, GM plans to invest more in self-driving cars. Those 100 or so jobs and the non-existent demand for them are safe.
To mobility and beyond!
As they likely end production of the only car with SuperCruise… I don’t get it.
Barra does not care about self-driving cars, zero emissions, and zero congestion. It is all about appeasing Wall Street. Anal-ists get real excited when they hear “layoffs” and “plant closings” that drive up the stock short term. i wonder how the stock will look four years from now when market share slips below Toyota?
She is a Liberal Democrat. Of course she wants to appease Hillary-loving Wallstreet.
A bunch of crooks…They should all be in jail!
Except very few want self driving cars.
Your kind of ignorance is boring. You have to know Americans hate America more than anything else.
Well, there’s going my plan to buy an Impala in two years!
I don’t understand why the Volt going away — maybe that specific model going away makes sense (as small sedans are seriously out of favor) but is ANYTHING being done with its technology? Is there any other confirmed upcoming model that will be using it? Or is it all BEV (e.g., Bolt) tech from here on out?
If not, that’s a real missed opportunity by GM. The Volt is *loved* by the 20-25,000 buyers it gets every year and a big part of it is how well its tech just plain works. But it looks like GM is throwing that all away, unless I am missing something.
There goes the Impala since you were going to buy one in 2 years…………….and not like, you know, NOW, when it would count.
the volt is going away because it is not a zero emission vehicle that can be sold in some states like calif.
If all you i was going to buy people actually bought one they would continue to build them.
GM makes nothing off of I was going to buy.
“The plants will be idled until their futures are addressed when the United Auto Workers union and GM sit down next year to hash out a new agreement. ”
The statement suggests that GM isn’t necessarily going to permanently shutter these factories but rather use the threat of such to drive a more competitive labor agreement. A hardball tactic if that’s what’s happening.
I hope GM doesn’t follow the Ford surrender model of saying slow sales are because no one wants sedans in these segments. While the sedan market is certainly down, the Japanese and European manufacturers aren’t giving up. I think GM needs to step up their game and go beyond just having a representative model in each category but rather the best model.
There was one statement I read from Machete Mary today that had some cryptic language about seeking concessions from the UAW next year.
Which in the end, makes no difference anyway. GM gets a few years breathing space to screw things up some more and then those same workers are laid off anyway. Just poorer for not having earned enough to have anything spare for savings and probably with less savings as they dipped into what they had to stay “employed” by GM and still pay their bills. Add the mental health issues from being constantly under threat of losing your job and its not a win for the workers.
‘Americans’ hate America.
TLDR: I have a feeling the sedan will come back from the dead the next time we have a minor recession and J3 are going to print money.
Have any of the OEMs stopped to think that people are buying SUVs because the economy is finally humming and the majority of consumers feel confident for the first time in 8-10 years? I’m not saying GM should keep the Sonic around, but I’m shocked that Ford cannot find a way to keep the Fusion somewhat competitive in the segment and make a decent contribution margin. It’s actually pretty pathetic when you consider the number of people in the U.S. that are loyal to domestic OEs or brands specifically. Point being that, for either somewhat irrational brand loyalty or certain parts of the country being too small for the imports to support a new dealership, the D3 effectively have a floor in their market share and should be able to have a sedan offering. e.g. where I’m from you would need to drive an hour to find a VW/Mazda/Hyundai/Subaru/Kia dealership and I don’t think that’s uncommon.
Dutch that is not true. In fact that is just another lie like the on on gas prices.
Today automakers have CUV and SUV models of all sizes, prices and mpg that match nearly any sedan.
Only a change in public preference would bring back a sedan and right now it is trending away from them.
If the economy tanks they will just buy smaller and cheaper CUV models.
I suppose you’re right. I like the idea of the CUV, but I think GM missed the boat with the 1.x engines powering them and vehicles like the Bu as well. They are just not enough power at highway speeds. Just come on guys figure it out.
I had a nox as a rental and you actually get atrocious gas mileage on the freeway with the AC on because the engine runs close to 3k RPMs. Great at 60mph, but just nosedives 75+mph.
Silao still running at capacity, no UAW in old Mexico.
Watch for SUV and truck sales to tumble once more when the economy take a dive and the gas prices surge, GM will be caught with its pants down again with the car production they’re killing.
I’d feel more comfortable with these drastic manufacturing decisions if GM’s full-size pickups were winning head to head comparisons.
Mobility is near and tech companies are sitting on mega cash to buy their spot at the table. Trim the branch to save the tree.
So with the big 2 idiots in Detroit and soon FCA killing off most of their sedan lineup they are essentially handing the Asian and South Korean companies a ton of sales. Can’t wait to see how that works out for them as I’m driving around in a Hyundai sedan 3 years down the road as the economy collapses. Such short sighted foolishness got them into trouble not too many years back.
those trump tax cuts and tariffs are killing it!!!! jobs that is!!!
has he chimed in on this yet?
With all due respect, and not to start a political debate, this is not a President Trump problem! This is a rapidly changing, yet unstable market problem! This is GM’s knee-jerk response to the seemingly endless demand for crossovers and SUVs, and the “apparent” but not fully realized demand for electric and automated vehicles!
Sigh….I don’t know what to make of this news….I see the reasoning behind it, and it makes sense. But I just can’t find myself fully embracing what’s going to come of GM with an SUV/crossover-heavy lineup! I feel Cadillac will be the most heavily impacted, as this will assuredly hamper their attempt to be fully competitive with the tier-1 luxury brands! The C1XX SUVs are good, but what will Cadillac offer that’ll truly set it apart from the corporate siblings?! Besides some splashes of leather and wood here and there?! It appears that the import brands will continue to deliver the more appealing products! And judging by the looks of what’s coming from Toyota, Honda and Hyundai-Kia Group, their gearing up to dominate the sedan\wagon\hot- hatch segments! And in perfect timing!
It most certainly is a Trump problem — $1 billion in tariffs on the steel that GM USA uses alone. He has done completely the opposite of what’s needed, tariffs on raw materials as if we were some African banana republic, and nothing but a lump of coal for our manufacturers who are wide open to foreign competition and now must pay a huge new tax on their raw materials too. On top of that Trump has completely reversed 15 years of federal policy towards more efficient cars for no better reason than his own conspiracy theories and effectively stranded US automakers in the process. End result, we are offered (but probably can’t even afford to buy) gas-guzzling, polluting imported SUVs that manufacturers can’t dump on other countries with more sensible policies.
As for the Cruze, Lordstown is grossly underutilized because the market has gone off sedans due to the temporary high of cheap gas prices, yes, I get that, but under current circumstances GM can’t afford to make CUVs here any more than sedans. We’ll be driving Mexican-made vehicles if we can even afford to buy them.
The drop in sales came long before the tariffs.
Lordstown is only at 31% capacity and it needs to be at 81% to be profitable.
It is a large plant with a sedan in a market that has turned its back on sedans for the last 3-4 years.
It is not a Trump thing, it is not a Union thing at least in the states. It is a market thing and a olant that a few years ago could run three shift feeling the effects of the market change.
Look for a Lordstown to be shuttered for a while till a higher volume CUV can be moved there. GM likes the UAW local there and they just need a higher volume model to arrive for placement there.
This plant needs the Cruze hatch lifted like the Subaru Impreza/ Crosstrek combo. Put awd under it and you’ll have a winner
So these plants are just “idling” and not “closing”, correct? They’re saying no products are being allocated for 2019 but they have so many new vehicles coming for 2020 and beyond, so does that mean in this idling, they can be restructuring these plants for new operations?
Great question! All of these future electric cars must be built somewhere!!!
Kill the LaCrosse, okay. Give me a 300-400 mile range electric crossover in its place.
that’s ok. the future is in raking leaves and digging up coal. MAGA!!!!
Old GM is back! Bloody Mary kills this company before it is start to build new technology in real car production. First stupid decision = sold of Europe Opel division (PSA made it prosper in one year!), which made crisis in Korea and Australia. Now is time to axed Canada and US factories and non SUV production…
So all you guys know what GM has on the table. So am I missing something, yea there are insiders saying this and that but still no real idea what is going to on. Lets see what they are doing before we all assume the sky is falling. It looks like they are going to keep a few sedans and have the small Cuv’s if and when gas prices go back up.
My heart goes out to all those who will be affected by these shortsighted decisions. Especially the cities. I know here in the Detroit area, the loss of Detroit-Hamtramck plant will be an economic body blow to any recovery the city may have. It is ironic that you can get a clear view of the plant from Barra’s window. It will be a nice monument to her incompetence.
GM is sort of a walking Dead Company. They are totally reliant on SUV/Truck sales to make profits. What will happen when the Industry flips to pure EV Transportation?
Just remember that I predicted Tesla will dominate the American Market a couple of years ago. Musk will pickup some of these Factories a couple years later for Pennies to the Dollar. Funny how Tesla can sell the you know what out of the Model 3 but GM cannot sell Sedans huh?
Our Government (Both sides) ruined the Great American Auto Industry once they decided all the Import Car companies can build Factories (Mostly in Southern States) with Huge Tax Breaks and no UAW Contacts. Once that happened, our American Companies were placed in a huge disadvantage right in their own back yards by our very own Government. Today is a sad day.
the huge disadvantage was that american auto manufacturers built crappy cars in the 70’s and 80’s. that allowed the imports in and gain market share.
True but the lack of Unionized Import producing car plants was and still is a HUGE disadvantage. That is all on the Government for allowing that to happen. If you build a car on American soil you should have had to join the UAW or if that is not the case, get rid of the UAW altogether then. Why place our Big Three in a disadvantage right in their own back yard.
The only reason Telsa buyers are buying the Model 3, is because Tesla buyers are fundamentally the same as Apple buyers.
Oh ok. I didn’t realize apple sells product for over $100K like Tesla does.
I don’t think you know what fundamentally means.
Really? You think Musk (or someone) would buy into castoff facilities?
Maybe. Maybe they’re state of the art; didn’t GM just upgrade Oshawa for $50m in 2016?
I fear, though, that GM is stuck with white elephant facilities that, like Janesville, meet an untimely end.
He bought the one in Fremont didn’t he?
Might be cheaper for him then building from Ground Up.
True.
I don’t know if proximity to the west coast matters to Elon – Fremont was an older GM facility, which then was upgraded in a joint GM-Toyota venture, yes?
No idea if Lordstown or Hamtramck or Oshawa work for him – great if they do – experienced workforce re-employed.
Time will tell …
GM has been “cutting their way to prosperity” since the 1980s. It never seems to work. The more they shrink, the more they need to shrink. They keep paring the company down and telling everybody it will lead to greater profitability and give them resources to invest in the future. No matter how much smaller they get, they never seem to have money to invest in anything but new trucks and SUVs. New GM is just like Old GM. They probably should have been allowed to be auctioned off and bought up but other companies that could’ve better managed their brands. Imagine if BMW had bought Cadillac. They did wonders to revive the storied old Rolls Royce brand. They could’ve done the same for Cadillac. Instead, GM was bailed out with the some loser lifers still running the company into the ground.
Why did the Lordstown local unions ever agree to allow GM to build and export the Chevy Cruise in Mexico ?
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I agree with JoeP and Joe Yoman My thoughts It can’t be like but, it could. There is to much blood on the floor. And only she Mary Barra and those people higher up knows the product line after 2020.
My prediction is one of these plants is going bye bye and it think that would be the Ohio plant.
I own a 11′ Cruze and it is a great car but, its a victim of this Crossover thing.
The Volt got taken by the Bolt. still love it might buy it before it go’s away.
Impala well giant SUVS again.
By the time they get rid of all the sedans they will be back in vogue.
Obituary for the CT6, CT6-V, and probably the Blackwing 4.2 TT V-8.
Some things just never change but hey, the good news is that Cadillac has a new FWD Lamba SUV coming with the corporate 3.6 L V-6.
A few weeks ago, I said I’d lost all hope for Cadillac. Contrary to what some here predicted, I knew JdN and his ambitious plan was going to run right into a brick wall of GM bean counters who would ultimately dismantle it. Bit by bit we’ve been seeing that but today, it took a huge hit. There is no hope for Cadillac. GM should immediately put the brand up for sale.
http://www.thedrive.com/news/25119/the-cadillac-ct6-is-dead-ct6-v-to-be-offered-as-final-year-model-for-2019
I 100% agree! This decision is definitely going to cripple Cadillac’s hope of being more competitive with the tier-1 luxury brands! They’re calling for more component and architecture sharing in all this “restructuring”, which reeks of badge-engineering; even if it is done much better than in decades past! I just don’t understand how they could’ve not developed their stellar Alpha and Omega chassis with crossovers in mind! Plus they’re not using the 3.6L or 3.0L TT in anything beyond their current applications! Not to mention their statement a while back about how they’re building their SUVs and crossovers to “economies of scale” and have no intentions of “chasing Nurburgring records” with them! Which confirms that there’s nothing beyond the soccer mom’s appetite to hold anyone’s interest in this brand!
This is why I’d rather GM simply kill the brand and direct the money and engineering to GMC and Buick! What these two brands offer in terms of product can easily appeal to what the so-called “traditional Cadillac buyer” would be willing to pay for! Premium\mid-luxury seems to be the hotspot for nearly every non-luxury brand!
if DUMB ceo’s at GM discontinue these sedans all there doing is increasing the sales of the imports . not everybody wants a truck, cuv ,or a suv ..
the older people who bought sedans are dieing off and the new younger buyers want UVs and trucks
After massive investments into the CT6, I’m not too convinced that this model will die off quite easily. More than likely, it could move to Lansing with a quick retooling for the CT6 to continue.
And, I’m not much of a CUV or truck buyer and prefer a sedan. If the CT6 does die off for good, it would be more and more difficult to defend Cadillac and take interest in the brand.
So, GM walks away from passenger cars, just like FoMoCo. What a damned shame. I live in Ohio, and own a 2017 Cruze LT sedan. I also owned a 2013 Cruze, previously. Both Lordstown built. Great small cars. Excellently efficient. I average 40+ MPG per tankful of fuel. I wanted and needed a small, yet comfortable and roomy and efficient sedan for my job. I drive 30K+ miles per year. The Cruze is efficient and affordable. CUVs and SUVs generally are not. Leasing makes CUVs, SUVs and trucks attainable for those that don’t drive as much. But, try purchasing a moderately priced CUV, SUV, or truck. Big payments! For guys like me that need to purchase, because of driving so many miles per year, leasing is not an option. GM and Ford are completely surrendering the passenger car business to the Asian brands. Kia, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota and Nissan don’t seem to be shying away from these segments, despite market adjustments to CUVs/SUVs. When gasoline prices eventually and inevitably rise, GM and Ford will be caught with their pants down, due to shortsightedness. And even more Americans will sadly be driving foreign nameplates.
Something just isn’t right here.
GM spent many millions in developing, manufacturing, marketing, and now redesigning the CT6 and its engine. There is no way in hell they would completely get rid of it. I could see if they stopped marketing it, or moved it to another plant, or even shuttered production; but to completely stop would be asinine.
Same deal goes for the Volt ^.
GM would be absolutely stupid to cut the Cruze as well. With soon no sales from Ford, GM will surely pick up a few. What about the recent redesign? Redesigned Sonic? XTS?
WHY GM WHY?!?!?!?!
I don’t know much but somebody’s watching the Genesis sponsored ESPN NFL ads. I own a ’13 XTS and (wife’s) ’15 Impala and was thinking of moving to CT6 when time to trade the XTS.
GM is Doomed Bankruptcy #2 soon to follow. Exec’s don’t care cause they will still walk away with there millions…
GM Stop biting the hand that feeds you.
This is the new gm, no more building cars people dont buy. No more bailouts. People want trucks and suvs. so thats what gm has to build. Ford is doing it. Chrysler too.
Layoffs and plant closures are a necessary evil gm has to do in order to avoid past mistakes.
Autoblog listed GM’s best selling vehicles in the US so far this year. They are:
1. Chevrolet Silverado
2. Chevrolet Equinox
3. GMC Sierra
4. Chevrolet Cruz
5. Chevrolet Malibu
6. Chevrolet Traverse
7. Chevrolet Colorado
8. GMC Terrain
9. Chevrolet Tahoe
10. Buick Encore
11. Chevrolet Trax
12. GMC Acadia
13. GMC Yukon
14. Cadllac XT5
15. Chevrolet Express
16. Chevrolet Impala
17. Chevrolet Suburban
18. Chevrolet Camaro
19. Buick Enclave
20. Cadillac Escalade
21. GMC Canyon
22. Buick Envision
23. Chevrolet Sonic
24. Chevrolet Spark
25. GMC Savannah
26. Chevrolet Corvette
27. Buick LaCrosse
28. Chevrolet Volt
29. Cadillac XTS
30. Chevrolet Bolt
31. Buick Regal
32. Cadillac ATS
33. Cadillac CTS
34. Cadillac CT6
35. Buick Cascada
36. Cadillac XT4
A few thoughts: A) Mary Barra says that Cruz doesn’t sell so it must be eliminated and the plant closed but it’s GM’s best selling car, and fourth best selling product overall. It is the product that brings young buyers into the fold. B) GM says they want to focus on electrification in the future but their fully electric car, the Chevrolet Bolt is in 30th place sales-wise, and their electric-hybrid Volt is in 28th place. Does it make sense to eliminate your fourth best selling car to chase a market for which there seems to be no demand? C) Ms. Barra also says they want to focus on autonomous cars but currently they only build one autonomous car, the Cadillac CT6 with SuperCruise, which Ms. Barra is also eliminating.
The american corporate executives followed their greed and brought an excellent platform down ! very sad day….
GM sure knows better OR DOES IT ?…… very sad to read what GM has done to a wonderful car.! This would be x-mas gift for the imports, !