GM extending a cutback in car production at Oshawa plant
February 23, 2018 | By The Canadian Press
Oshawa, Ont. – General Motors Co. is reportedly extending a cutback in car production at its plant in Oshawa, Ont., into April and May before it begins a second shift to produce pickup trucks later this year.
The automaker had halted production of Cadillac XTS and Chevrolet Impala cars for three weeks in January and brought the plant back online on one shift instead of the previous two shifts for the rest of the first quarter.
But The Globe and Mail, citing a memo it says Unifor sent to workers at the plant, reported Wednesday that GM has now extended the single-shift operation to May 28.
Jennifer Wright, the automaker’s manager of corporate communications, told The Canadian Press in an email that current job levels are “anticipated to be retained.”
She said production of the Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks began earlier this month and the company plans to “ramp up production over the coming months.”
The move comes amid a continuing slump in sales of passenger cars generally in North America and specifically in the U.S. market for the two cars that are built in Oshawa.
