GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra addresses investors Oct. 6, 2021 at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan.
Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors
General Motors is cutting output at one of its main electric-vehicle factories, the latest automaker to pull back on EVs as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration yanks federal support for green cars.
GM will stop production of two electric Cadillac SUVs at its assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, during the month of December, according to a person familiar with the matter and communications to GM employees viewed by Reuters.
The plant produces the midsize Cadillac Lyriq — a relative hit and one of GM’s top-selling EVs — and the Vistiq, a larger electric SUV.
GM also plans to significantly curtail production of those vehicles during the first five months of next year by temporarily laying off one of its two shifts of workers, according to the sources. The company will additionally shutter the plants for one week in October and November.
The automaker is also planning to indefinitely delay the start of a second shift at an assembly plant near Kansas City, which is still slated to begin production of the Chevy Bolt EV later this year, the person familiar with the matter said.
Asked for comment, the company told Reuters: “General Motors is making strategic production adjustments in alignment with expected slower EV industry growth and customer demand by leveraging our flexible ICE (internal combustion engine) and EV manufacturing footprint.”
The Trump administration’s tax and spending law passed in July withdrew key support for EVs, including a $7,500 consumer tax credit that had been in place for about 15 years. Car executives have said they expect a rough patch for EV sales after that subsidy expires Sept. 30.
“The $7,500 tax credit is driving demand; without that, that’ll slow,” GM CEO Mary Barra said at an event in December 2024.
The legislation also froze penalties that automakers have long paid if the vehicles they sell fall short of federal standards for fuel efficiency. That is expected to entice car companies to build more gas-powered cars at the expense of electrics, analysts say.
EV sales have failed to meet bullish forecasts carmakers put forth just a few years ago, and most companies continue to lose money on them. Green-car backers say federal support is needed to broaden adoption and prevent the U.S. from falling further behind China — the world’s EV leader — and Europe.
After struggling with manufacturing problems earlier in the decade, GM’s EV sales have surged over the past year. The company said August was its best month ever for EVs, with 21,000 battery-powered vehicles sold across its brands.
Still, executives have stressed GM’s gasoline-powered production base as a key strength to navigating the coming years.
“As we adjust to the new EV market realities, the strength of our ICE portfolio will continue to separate our brands from the pack and give us flexibility and profitability that EV-only companies lack,” GM’s head of North America, Duncan Aldred, wrote in a release earlier this week.
