General Motors plans to lay off 2,000 employees at two U.S. auto plants in early 2017, the automaker said on Wednesday.
GM’s Lordstown, Ohio and Lansing, Michigan plants build slow-selling cars sold by Chevrolet and Cadillac. GM said it will furlough the employees when it cuts the third shift at both plants in January.
GM (GM) says the furlough is a response to what the company believes will be a continued shift from cars to crossovers and trucks. The Lordstown plant builds the compact Chevrolet Cruze, whose U.S. sales through October were down 20%. The Lansing Grand River plant builds the Cadillac ATS and CTS, whose sales were down 17% through October.
The Lansing Grand River factory, which employs 2,700 people, also makes the Chevrolet Camaro. The third shift at the Lansing Grand River factory will end January 16 and affect about 810 hourly and 29 salaried workers.
The Lordstown factory employs 4,500 people. The third shift at that plant will end January 23 and affect 1,202 hourly and 43 salaried employees.
GM also announced plans to invest more than $900 million in three facilities to prepare for future product programs. GM says it will invest $667.6 million at its Toledo transmission factory for a new generation of transmissions, $211 million at the Lansing Grand River assembly plant for an unspecified “new product program,” and $37 million at its Bedford casting facility in Indiana, which makes transmission casings, converter housings, heads, and small gas engine blocks that are used in Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles.