General Motors said on Wednesday that it would lay off around 1,200 workers at the Detroit-area all-electric factory. The company also plans to cut 550 jobs at its Ultium battery cell facility in Ohio, and lay off 850 workers in the Ohio plant, as well as 700 in the Tennessee plants.
“In response to slower near-term EV adoption and an evolving regulatory environment, General Motors is realigning EV capacity,” the company said. “Despite these changes, GM remains committed to our U.S. manufacturing footprint, and we believe our investments and dedication to flexible operations will make GM more resilient and capable of leading through change.”
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“Ultium Cells is adjusting production in response to recent changes in customer plant demand,” GM added. “As part of this alignment, battery cell production at the Spring Hill, Tennessee and Warren, Ohio facilities will be temporarily paused beginning January 2026. Impacted employees may be eligible to continue receiving a significant portion of their regular wages or salary, plus benefits.”
The company also mentioned that it would anticipate “resuming operations cell production at both sites by mid-2026.” It also said that many employees at “Factory ZERO” in Detroit may be eligible for supplemental unemployment benefit pay and those affected at its Ultium plants “may be eligible to continue receiving a significant portion of their regular wages or salary, plus benefits.”
This comes shortly after the company said it will lose $1.6 billion as it pulls back its production plans amid dwindling government support for electric vehicles, and slower-than-expected take up. “Following recent U.S. government policy changes, including the termination of certain consumer tax incentives for EV purchases and the reduction in the stringency of emissions regulations, we expect the adoption rate of EVs to slow,” GM said in a filing on Oct. 14.
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The automotive giant had gone big on EVs, announcing in 2021 that it would phase out gas and diesel cars globally by 2035. This announcement came shortly after the then-president Joe Biden took office pledging to boost EV sales. At one point it was planning to spend $30 billion on EVs by this year, including an all-electric lineup further down the track. Things had changed since then, with President Donald Trump ending federal tax credits that helped American buyers afford to buy expensive U.S.-made electric cars.
Ford also cut down on investments in EVs, while dropping models and taking a $1.9 billion charge last year. Chief executive Jim Farley recently said the market will be “way smaller than we thought.” Sales have also plunged for Tesla, the biggest EV maker in the U.S. CEO Elon Musk warned on the company’s most recent earnings call of “rough quarters” ahead.
GM’s announcement comes amid a wave of layoffs across a number of companies.