GM to cut output, shifts at car plants in Ohio, Michigan

GM to cut output, shifts at car plants in Ohio, Michigan

General Motors today said it will cut more than 2,000 factory jobs because of slowing demand for cars but plans to invest $900 million to prepare for new products at three plants.

GM said it is eliminating the third shift at a Lansing, Mich., plant that makes the Chevrolet Camaro, Cadillac ATS and Cadillac CTS. The move affects 810 hourly jobs and 29 salaried positions, effective Jan. 16.

The Chevrolet Cruze plant in Lordstown, Ohio, will lose its third shift on Jan. 23. The cutback affects 1,202 hourly and 43 salaried jobs.

U.S. light-vehicle sales have dropped 0.3 percent this year, but car deliveries have slipped 9.7 percent. GM’s U.S. car sales off 7.5 percent this year, partly reflecting a pullback in daily rental shipments to focus on retail business.

GM had more than 100 days’ supply of all four nameplates as of Nov. 1, according to the Automotive News Data Center. A spokesman said the decision relates to the U.S. market’s shift toward light trucks and was not connected to Tuesday’s presidential election. Labor laws require companies to give at least 60 days’ notice for mass layoffs.

At the same time, GM said planned investments at three plants will retain 784 jobs in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana for work on undisclosed new products. The company said it will spend $668 million at its Toledo Transmission Operations plant in Ohio, $211 million at the Lansing plant that’s losing its third shift and $37 million at a metal-casting plant in Bedford, Ind.