• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • The Rearview Mirror: Tailfins Take Flight
  • TikTok Reveals the Hottest EVs in the Industry
  • Millions of Older Hyundai, Kia Owners May Face Trouble Getting Car Insurance
  • Bugatti Chiron Profilée Sets New Auction Sales Record
  • Another Delay for VinFast Customers
  • Ford Making Return to Formula One for 2026 Season
  • Ford CEO Farley “Frustrated” by $2 Billion Loss for 2022
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 Achieves EPA-Estimated 361-Mile Range
  • Nissan’s Virtual EV Convertible, the Max-Out Reappears in Sheet Metal Form
  • Honda Launching Hydrogen-Powered CR-V in 2024
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Lexus GX 460 Black Line
    • A Week With: 2023 BMW X1 xDrive28i
    • A Week With: 2023 Kia Niro EV
    • A Week With: 2023 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy
    • A Week With: 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R 4x4 Super Crew
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis Electrified G80 AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 V-8
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport
    • A Week With: 2023 Jaguar F-Type R Coupe
    • A Week With: 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > GM CEO’s “Open Mind” May Not Save Any of Five Plants Slated to Close

        GM CEO’s “Open Mind” May Not Save Any of Five Plants Slated to Close

        “We do have an overcapacity problem,” says Barra, after Capitol Hill meetings.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        Dec. 06, 2018
        GM CEO Mary Barra has been meeting with members of Congress, explaining why five plants are being closed.

        General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra told members of Congress she will keep an “open mind” when it comes to plans to close five plants next year, including assembly plants in Michigan, Ohio and Ontario, Canada.

        The closures were announced late last month, along with plans to trim about 15% of the automaker’s white-collar workforce, as it addresses a variety of problems, including the ongoing shift from passenger cars to light trucks. But Barra also stressed that the automaker faces “limitations” on what it can do because “we do have an overcapacity (issue) across the country.”

        Subscribe Now!

        The one-time “shop rat,” who began working at GM as a co-op student said she told Congressional representatives from Ohio and Maryland on Wednesday that “These were difficult decisions – decisions I take very personally,” while adding in a statement that GM wants to “minimize the impact on the (affected) communities” by, among other things, offering workers a chance to switch to other GM plants, where possible or by offering outplacement services.

        Whether that will be enough to soften the criticism facing the nation’s largest automaker since it announced the cuts appears unlikely. Almost immediately after the Nov. 26 announcement that the plants and up to 15,000 jobs would be eliminated GM came under sharp attack from local, state and federal officials.

        (Mary Barra continues radical reshaping of General Motors. Click Here for the story.)

        UAW President Gary Jones criticized the recent moves by GM vowing to fight the closures.

        “I am very disappointed with General Motors and their CEO, Mary Barra,” tweeted President Donald Trump. “The U.S. saved General Motors and this is the thanks we get! We are now looking at cutting all @GM subsidies,” he added, with incentives for electric vehicles among those he said he would target.

        GM’s planned moves, which are already seeing some white-collar contract and staff workers getting notice, has accomplished something rarely seen in Washington over the last few years. The automaker has come under strong bipartisan attack, Democrats and Republicans alike have taken aim, many supporting sanctions against the company.

        But despite Barra’s promise to keep an “open mind,” she appeared to downplay the possibility of reversing course. The automaker now has far more plants than it needs based on sales of its current product line. In fact, there is at least one other plant that observers say could later be targeted: the facility in Orion Township, Michigan producing both the Chevrolet Sonic subcompact and the Chevy Bolt EV.

        It is only because of the importance of the Bolt to GM’s push into electrification, several well-placed sources at the automaker told TheDetroitBureau.com, that the factory escaped the chopping block, as well. Eventually, GM hopes to add more battery-powered products to the facility north of Detroit.

        President Donald Trump said he told GM CEO Mary Barra that the country has been "very good" to the automaker.

        (Click Here for more about GM looking at white collar layoffs due to low buyout response.)

        Congressional officials and others have been pressing GM to keep at least some of the doomed plants open by adding new models, or by shifting production from Mexico of the newly relaunched Chevrolet Blazer SUV.

        But, in an interview with the Reuters news service following her Capitol Hill meetings, Barra said that would be “very costly,” appearing to rule out the option.

        Insiders say Barra has been concerned about the harsh response to the job and plant cuts, but that she is determined to move ahead.

        “I understand this is something that impacts the country and I understand that there is a lot of emotion and concern about it,” Barra told Reuters.

        Some observers have suggested that GM is actually using the threat of plant cuts as part of its strategy heading into its 2019 contract talks with the United Auto Workers union, but company insiders downplay that and insist there is little chance the automaker would accept a deal that would require it to continue operating seriously underutilized factories.

        (To see more about the UAW criticizing GM for its restructuring plans, Click Here.)

        Nonetheless, some point to language in last month’s announcement that could leave open a small window. The automaker emphasized that the products currently being built in the three plants – such as the Chevy Cruze, Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac CT6 – have been “unallocated” after 2019. That did not specifically and formally rule out that other products might subsequently be allocated to any of the facilities.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published

        The Rearview Mirror: Tailfins Take Flight

        Yesterday
        2021 Porsche Taycan - charging

        TikTok Reveals the Hottest EVs in the Industry

        Feb. 03, 2023
        2018 Hyundai Sonata front

        Millions of Older Hyundai, Kia Owners May Face Trouble Getting Car Insurance

        Feb. 03, 2023

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: