General Motors Announces Layoffs At Plant In Rayong, Thailand

General Motors will lay off about 350 workers at its production facility in Rayong Province, Thailand amid its ongoing global restructuring efforts.

The automaker did not provide an official reason for the layoffs, but in a statement to Reuters, the automaker said they were necessary to right-size” its operations – wording it has also used when addressing job cuts in North America.

GM also stated that its operations in Thailand would continue, with no major changes planned.

“There is no change to our ongoing business in Thailand – we continue to build and sell world-class trucks, SUVs and engines for Thailand and the world,” the company added.

The GM Rayong Complex comprises both a powertrain and a production facility. GM builds a number of Chevrolet and Holden vehicles at the plant, including the global Chevrolet/Holden TrailBlazer and global Chevrolet/Holden Colorado. The powertrain plant handles production of the automaker’s 2.5-liter and 2.8-liter four-cylinder diesel engines.

GM began vehicle production at Rayong in 2000, with engine production starting up in 2011. The automaker invested $445 million to build the 14,492-square-meter powertrain facility, which like the production plant, builds products for both local consumption and export to nearby markets such as Australia.

Production at Rayong will continue unchanged despite the reduction in employees, with GM saying it is” taking every measure to support employees whose roles are impacted.”

These layoffs come after the automaker announced it would close five of its North American plants late last year in a bid to adjust its production output to fall in line with demand. The automaker has also implemented temporary layoffs at its CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario and recently cut a shift at its San Luis Potosi plant in Mexico – all part of its ongoing “rightsizing” strategy.

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