The Cruze is one of six GM models on the chopping block.
DETROIT: In an effort to accelerate the company's "vision of Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions, Zero Congestion" and save US$6 billion by the end of 2020, General Motors announced plans on Monday to discontinue the production of six passenger vehicles and shut down five plants in 2019.
On Monday General Motors revealed plans to close five assembly and propulsion plants across the US and Canada and completely restructure its vehicle portfolio.
A handful of slow-selling sedan models are scheduled to be discontinued next year, allowing GM to more completely shift their focus to higher selling trucks, crossovers, and SUVs, as well as the development of their electric portfolio as promised in October of last year.
"We believe the future is all-electric," GM announced in 2017 while outlining their plans to introduce 20 completely electric models to the global market by 2023.
Among those undergoing production discontinuations are the Chevy Volt and Cruze, the poster models that represented the company after recovering from their 2009 bankruptcy.
New models of those as well as of the Buick LaCrosse will cease to exist after March.
Production for the Cadillac CT7 and Chevrolet Impala will end in June, followed by the Cadillac XTS in the fourth quarter.
At the end of the day, GM is planning on a completely electric future and even plug-in hybrids like the Chevy Volt did not make the cut. The auto industry is shifting in a big way towards electric power, and GM is hoping this strategy will help it keep up.
In a Reuters report, US president Donald Trump is threatening to eliminate subsidies for General Motors Co in retaliation for the automaker cutting US jobs and plants.
“The US saved General Motors, and this is the THANKS we get! We are now looking at cutting all @GM subsidies, including ... for electric cars,” Trump said on Twitter.
Trump did not explain what “subsidies” he was referring to.
GM electric vehicles are eligible for a US$7,500 tax credit under federal law, but it is not clear how the administration could restrict those credits or if Trump had other subsidies in mind.
Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “discussed their disappointment in the announced closures of General Motors plants in their respective countries” during a phone call on Tuesday, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said.
The wrath of the leaders of the United States and Canada dramatised the challenges GM and its Detroit rivals will face as they restructure to cope with the most dramatic technology and market shifts in decades.
Trump has made boosting auto jobs a key priority during his almost two years in office and has often attacked automakers on Twitter for not doing enough to boost US employment.
GM said in a statement following Trump’s comments that it was “committed to maintaining a strong manufacturing presence” in the United States after investing US$22 billion in operations here since 2009 and will add new jobs in electrification and autonomous vehicles.
The cuts will “position the company for long-term success and maintain and grow American jobs,” GM said, adding that many workers at affected plants will be able to move to other GM factories.
