GM productions to be scaled back
Change will not result in permanent layoffs, union says
A drop in sales of GM passenger vehicles is causing the automaker to scale back production at the Oshawa Assembly starting in January.
By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express
General Motors is temporarily reducing production of two passenger cars at its Oshawa plant due to sluggish sales according to the top union representative.
Colin James, president of Unifor Local 222, the organization which represents Oshawa plant workers, told The Oshawa Express on Dec. 1 production of the Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS will be suspended for the first three weeks of January.
Requests for comment from GM were not returned as of The Express’s press deadline.
James says once production resumes, there will only be one shift instead of two for those vehicles until the end of March, adding he believes the slowdown of production will not result in any permanent layoffs.
James says both the Impala and XTS have been suffering from ‘soft sales’.
“For the Impala, which is usually a big seller, the sales are just way down,” he added. “Trucks and SUVs are just outselling cars at this point.”
James says truck production at the Oshawa plant will also begin in January.
“We expect to have saleable vehicles in the first quarter (of 2018).”
He told The Express the trucks set to be produced in Oshawa will be the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, however, GM has yet to publicly announce these details.
GM also released its sales figures for November this past week. The company delivered 23,612 vehicles last month, down 17.2 per cent from the previous November. However, total sales have increased 14.2 per cent from 2016 to 2017.