Partly Due to Cadillac Sales, GM Cuts 2,000-plus Jobs in Michigan, Ohio

Lackluster demand for several General Motors models has forced the automaker to announce shift cuts at two assembly plants, leading more than 2,000 lost jobs.

It’s unpleasant news for autoworkers in America’s manufacturing heartland, but the General hints that four-wheeled saviors are on the way.

Automotive News reports that a third shift at GM’s Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant is due to disappear, along with a third shift in Lansing, Michigan. Both shifts are scheduled to dry up in mid-January.

Lordstown, which assembles the Chevrolet Cruze, will see 1,202 hourly and 43 salaried jobs cut, while Lansing can expect a loss of 810 hourly and 29 salaried positions. GM’s Lansing plant builds the struggling Cadillac ATS and CTS, as well as the Chevrolet Camaro.

ATS sales have sank since the model’s first full year of production, and October’s U.S. sales tally of 1,593 units is nearly 1,000 units less than the same month in 2015. Sales of the CTS were just a third of the previous October’s tally — the worst month for Cadillac’s mid-sizer this decade. Buoyed by incentives, the Camaro has held its own in recent months.

Year-to-date sales of the Cruze are off last year’s tally, mainly due to the changeover to a new generation of the compact sedan and hatch. Still, recent monthly sales seem healthy. As part of its new sales strategy, GM has also sent fewer vehicles to fleets, preferring instead to focus on higher-profit retail transactions.

GM’s announcement wasn’t all bad news, as the company threw out a cautious fig leaf to displaced autoworkers. The automaker plans to invest $900 million into upgrades at three plants, paving the way for new models it wouldn’t elaborate on. Automotive News claims the cash should benefit the Toledo Transmission Operations plant to the tune of $668 million, while $211 million will go to the Lansing plant. A further $37 million will be invested in GM’s metal-casting plant in Bedford, Indiana.

That cash should help retain 784 jobs.

[Image: General Motors]