GM is closing 5 plants in North America. Are the jobs safe at its Arlington facility?
General Motors is closing five production plants in the U.S. and Canada, but it looks like the company’s Arlington plant is still going at full speed.
In Arlington, GM makes the Chevy Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon. The enormous plant near Texas 360 and East Abram Street employs about 4,125 people.
The company began a $1.4 billion expansion of the Arlington plant in 2015.
“The expansion at Arlington will be completed next year, but there are major components that are already completed,” Patrick Hernandez, GM spokesman in Arlington, said in an email. “We will be announcing when the projects are complete.”
The changes announced Monday include closure of a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, that makes the Chevrolet Cruze; a Detroit plant that makes the Chevrolet Volt, Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac CT6 and a plant in Ontario, Canad,a that makes the Chevrolet Impala.
Two transmission plants in Baltimore and Warren, Mich. also will be closed.
Three overseas plants, including one in South Korea, also will be closed.
In all, more than 14,000 salaried and union jobs will be cut.
In announcing the changes, GM officials said they were part of a corporate transformation that began in 2015. The company sees a future that includes sport-utility vehicles such as those made in Arlington as well as electric, hybrid and self-driving vehicles — but not sedans.
“The actions we are taking today continue our transformation to be highly agile, resilient and profitable, while giving us the flexibility to invest in the future,” Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO, said in a news release. “We recognize the need to stay in front of changing market conditions and customer preferences to position our company for long-term success.”
The moves will result in cash savings of about $6 billion, cost reductions of $4.5 billion and a lower capital expenditure annual run rate of almost $1.5 billion, according to a company statement.
Hernandez declined to elaborate on the GM closures other than to say there would be no major changes in Arlington. He referred other questions to another GM spokeswoman, Kim Carpenter, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This story was originally published November 26, 2018 at 11:27 AM.
