The US car manufacturer General Motors announced on Thursday (local time) that it would lay off 1,300 employees at two plants in the US state of Michigan. At the beginning of January, 945 workers are to be laid off at the Orion assembly plant because production of the Chevrolet Bolt EV will be stopped there and switched to electric truck production. Another 350 employees are expected to lose their jobs at the Lansing Grand River plant because production of the Chevrolet Camaro is discontinued there. GM according to the affected employees will be offered positions at other factories.
The US car giant is also taking action against its ailing robotaxi company Cruise. Around 900 jobs are to be cut, affecting around a quarter of the workforce, according to an internal message from manager Mo Elshenawy to employees on Thursday. The majority of engineers should be exempt from the cuts.
Turbulence at robotaxi company
Cruise’s once aggressive growth strategy had come to an abrupt halt after an accident involving a pedestrian in San Francisco in October. A woman got under a cruise vehicle and was dragged several meters by the car. According to the accident report, the pedestrian was initially hit by another vehicle with a human behind the wheel and thrown in front of the self-driving car. The self-driving car braked immediately – but was no longer able to prevent the collision.
In November, Cruise suspended all travel on public roads CEO Kyle Vogt took his hat off. With the job cuts, GM is also scaling back spending on Cruise, which totaled $700 million in the most recent quarter.