Chinese supplier Yanfeng will shutter its Riverside, Missouri plant this coming November. The closure will occur around the same time that General Motors will temporarily layoff hundreds of employees at the GM Fairfax facility in Kansas City following the end of production for the ninth-generation Chevy Malibu. The Yanfeng factory in Riverside supplies components for the GM Fairfax plant. The closure of the Yanfeng Riverside plant will include layoffs for 444 employees.
According to a report from Automotive News, employees were notified of the impending plant closure via a notice posted on September 16th. The closure will occur within two weeks of November 15th, coinciding with the end of production of the ninth-generation Chevy Malibu. The Yangeng factory supplies seats, electronics, and various interior components for vehicle assembly at the GM Fairfax plant.
Among the 444 employees affected by the Yanfeng plant closure, 398 employees are members of the United Auto Workers labor union under UAW Local 710. Workers voted to join the UAW in May of 2023, with members highlighting low pay, understaffed shifts, and lack of seniority rights as motivation to organize, as well as alleged discrimination against workers of color.
Yanfeng holds its corporate headquarters in Shanghai, and supplies automakers around the world, with parts sales topping $15.5 billion last year.
The Yanfeng plant closure coincides with a temporary layout for roughly 680 employees at the GM Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City. Looking ahead, the GM Fairfax facility will be retooled for production of the next-generation Chevy Bolt EV. GM employees affected by the temporary layoff will be supported according to the provisions outlined in the latest agreement between GM and the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union.
In addition to producing the Chevy Malibu, the GM Fairfax production facility also produces the Cadillac XT4. XT4 production will be paused this coming January. Following the retooling effort, XT4 production will resume alongside the next-generation Chevy Bolt EV, with both models expected to roll off the same line in order to provide the automaker with greater flexibility to respond to fluctuating customer demand.
Comments
Of course there’s more money in trucks and SUV’s, but you still need to offer at least one or two cars. This is why customers flock to Kia and other foreign manufacturers, as they are still offering cars.
They need one really great in-betweener sedan that splits the difference between the Corolla and Camry. GM is so far behind on reputation, that they will never get close to the sales of either those two, but they could be competitive with a in-betweener that is priced closer to the Corolla than the Camry. Then, keep it competitive instead of making a half-arsed effort, never updating in, then wondering why sales stink.
Yes, a new Bolt EV is necessary, but NOT at the expense of the Malibu. GM, you’re as messed up as the rest of them. GenZ apparently wants sedans and you drop them. Probably station wagons too. You need a new crystal ball, stat.
Gen Z doesn’t want sedans. They don’t want any car period. They don’t want children and don’t want to own a home let alone have a proper or meaningful career. They are entering adulthood with literally nothing affordable. When they become the generation in their working age, the companies are going to be in for a real treat when they realize their price gouging has led to a generation that is not interested in spending and consumerism and prefers living in minimalism (much like people in 3rd world countries). They are going to be the new Lost Generation and companies like GM will have no one but themselves to blame.
The Bolt EUV is basically a hatchback or small wagon.
Gen Z uses Uber to get around and Door Dash to eat
i order food delivery all the time and im father to genz… tear and wear, fuel, getting dressed, time spent.. far outweigh the tip to order in.
Funny comment. Right up there with the one I’d heard years ago when the farmers went on strike. I think it was a comedian who said, “Why should I care, I get my food from the grocery”.
bring back cars
So true linwood linwood, GM needs rear drive cars big power . Every Competitor have sedans ,Not every one want SUVs or trucks ! I thought that GM was working on a replacement for the Malibu in 2025 or 2026 , Hey I don’ know how GM is thinking !
Go to the Buick GMC dealer near me no cars all suv or trucks. So people looking for Buick cars have to go next door to KIA or down the street to Hyundai to buy a car. Great job GM!!!!
Kia is not immune either. Accent and stinger have recently been withdrawn. I may not like it, but the sedan market is dwindling from lack of demand. It is not some conspiracy of the automakers. They make what people buy.
VW also. The only sedan options you have is the limited availability Arteon, and also limited availability GTI and Audi-priced Golf R. There’s the Jetta also but I’m sure VW will land up killing it off in the US market too.
The Detroit 3 started this dumb trend but other volume brands are following suit. Nissan announced they are cancelling the Altima (already killed the Maxima) and Mazda has only the 3 (no more 6). Mitsubishi has zero sedans. I agree with everyone else the trend is stupid. Especially because of what I said a million times before. Once a GM or Ford customer goes to Toyota, Honda, or the Koreans, they NEVER come back. They would literally need to be priced out of these other brands to possibly come back and that is if they don’t decide to just go for a pre-owned Toyota instead.
It won’t be long before only foreign brands will be available at airport vehicle rental centers. I have been a GM customer all of my life and the Chevrolet Malibu is our car of choice to rent. Sadly it is becoming difficult to find a GM ICE vehicle to rent and yet there many foreign sedans to rent. I can only imagine what it will be like in a few years to find a GM vehicle!
GM doesn’t make money selling to rental fleets.
That was simply a way to “find a home” for excess volume.
Every time I land up going for an economy car when I rent a car, onsite will say “Nissan Sentra or equivalent” I NEVER land up with an economy car. They usually give me a compact or sub-compact CUV and if they don’t have one of these like one time I went to Atlanta for business an Expedition. So even rental companies seem to have stopped buying these.
feel sorry for LOL.
Affordable cars are in demand as Ford Maverick and Chevy Trax have proven sales numbers to back. I don’t know why us government can use tariff on China to help farmers, but can not use the same tariff to help gm put one last push on ice vehicle development. Put port injection in the Malibu.
Good comment but there WERE Tariffs imposed by Trump on all kinds of products the Chinese were unfairly dumping into the U.S. to drive U.S. manufacturing out of business. Most of those products were, and continue to be nothing but JUNK and have no QC at their sources whatsoever. Then along came Biden, who immediately rescinded those tariffs that were proving effective and allowed more Chinese junk to infiltrate the U.S. Even Joetato’s handlers finally realized the Tariffs were necessary and had to re-establish SOME of them…..too little and too late.
Malibu was a great ICE car and the ONLY GM competitor to Honda, Toyota, Kia, Hyundai Sedans and had a good reputation for reliability. The Malibu engine did not auto-destruct like Kia/Hyundai GDI engines were doing. Not everyone wants a stupid EV crapper. Another FAILURE by GM leadership i.e. Mary Barra. How long will this Piss-Poor, market-ignoring leadership be allowed to continue ?
So this is one of the reasons why Panasonic is building that HUGE lithium battery plant over on the Kansas side of the Kansas, Missouri border in De Soto, KS.
As has been stated, “they will build what sells”, with the additional caveat of profitability. I have not owned a sedan in ten years (SUV, CUV, and truck). When I can have a fuel efficient SUV/CUV that has way more flexibility, I’ll take it. The same will apply in the future when EVs become mainstream.
Hmmm….how odd that 100’s of thousands of others continue to purchase Sedans made by Honda, Toyota, Kia, Hyundai etc. And that ‘ “genius” running GM has now completely abandoned that market. “Mainstream” ???? Bwa-ha-ha-ha, now there’s a laugher as has been proven by buyers.
They should kill the XT4. Rented one on a business trip last week and it’s a total pig.
Rides like a drunken donkey. Noisy. Acceleration lags. Though that might be just a ICE thing, I’ve gotten used to the quiet instant acceleration of an EV.
Visibility wasn’t great either.
Only positive really was decent truck space for my luggage and CarPlay.
So you don’t realize that a typical EV of that size outweighs a normal ICE vehicle by around 800 to 1000 lbs. which allows the builder to employ a much softer suspension in the ICE vehic;le, thereby showing your total bias towards the EV joke. Your “instant acceleration” you mention wears tires out at an accelerated rate, right along with the additional weight that is now proven to defeat safety barriers along the roadways. Pay attention to the evening News from the legacy media and you would know that, but they failed to mention how that additional weight causes inceased damages and injury to those hit by an EV. Your “instant acceleration” makes these EV jokes a real handful in slippery Winter Weather too when moderating the power on take-off becomes so crucial. What a total load of EV Lobby crappola.
What parts do they build there?
I would guess GM didn’t renew the contract with them as a supplier for other vehicles because of their Chinese connection and worries over impacts of tariffs and a possible upcoming ban on cars with Chinese electronics and connected systems.
This plant has had quality issues from day one. Cheaper is not better. The plant has awful management and has produced dubious quality parts since it opened. I know I haul these parts to GM from this facility.
How is the ridiculous UAW contract working for you?
What’s “ridiculous” about it in view of 23% cumulative INFLATION since Jan. 2017 and the stated threat of increased taxation if Kamalalala and the clown-boy are elected ? People have to support families and have a reasonably decent life. Look to the real culprit for their large wage demands and not those who are trying to keep a decent lifestyle in spite of Government B.S.
What’s ridiculous is that you seem to support the UAW, but don’t recognize their win was thanks in part to Biden’s strong support of unions.
What additional taxation are you talking about? Harris/Walz are looking to lower taxes for the middle and lower class and closing loopholes that allow billionaires and corporations to avoid paying taxes.
The current administrations policies helped drive down inflation in the US faster than other parts of the world have, and they have added millions of jobs to the economy, the stock markets and businesses are doing well, and there has been billions invested in US manufacturing.
OMG ! What a huge, LYING leftard you are….undeniably ! “policies helped drive down inflation” Bwa-ha-ha-ah…..when they were the Ones who CAUSED IT with insane Energy policies and incredible overspending of money we don’t have so they just printed more ! Stock market has totally failed to even keep up with inflation and neither have Wages ! . Businesses are doing well…..what a crock of Male Bovine Excrement ! That’s why so many are closing…especially restaurants because so few people can afford to eat out anymore. Take your LIES somewhere else. Are your replies written by some stringer at the DNC ?