Breaking: GM Oshawa closing all operations

[morepwr]

Thats a shame and I hate to see people lose their jobs. I dont care what the company is, people there are just trying to make a living.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted by Kjmack

There is no guarantee from cradle to grave in this world . Well only if you work for the goverment .

Even then, there's no guarantee. If you still need to work, always have a contingency plan.

 

[Kjmack]

Well i have said for years its a good time to buy a gently used car , nobody wants them . Im a odd duck i guess i cant stand driving a suv .

 

[SeaJay]

Originally Posted by hatt

[quote=irv]It doesn't seem companies have thought this through. People don't want cars they want trucks, SUVs, and crossovers but at the same time they want multiperson vehicles. LOL. I see more closures on the horizon with these out of touch companies.

Probably over 90% of today's pickup trucks have extended cabs to seat 4 or more folks. SUVs and CUVs seat anywhere from 4 to 7 or 8. Sedans are not selling well at all. If memory serves, 3Q18 total vehicles being sold (probably US only, though I don't recall) had the first decrease in sales volume that has been seen in the past several years. If correct, decreases in number of sedans being sold will show a larger decrease than the overall decrease.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted by OVERKILL

Originally Posted by Danno

The hollowing out of Ontario manufacturing jobs continues.... The high cost of electricity is probably just one of many reasons Ontario has become uncompetitive in the world market place.

This decision was likely aided, perhaps significantly, by the damage done by McGuinty and Wynne, with hydro costs being one of the big FUBAR's of those administrations. It follows on the heels of Caterpillar and other large industry exits.

Terrible but absolutely true. I would like to see some responsibility taken for this severe damage to our northern neighbors. GM is simply making a business decision. Note they are closing 3 plants or so in the US as well while they completely re-align their business model.

 

[4WD]

Look around on this website ... people are buying other makes and KORUS tee'd this up for appliances as well ...

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted by Bjornviken

7 factory and 10k peapol have to go world wide. Sad news!

I heard on the news today that is was 5 plants ... 1 in Canada and 4 in the USA. And GM stock was up today over the news. Said they were going more into electric and self driving cars. They might be in for a surprise IMO.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by ZeeOSix

Originally Posted by Bjornviken

7 factory and 10k peapol have to go world wide. Sad news!

I heard on the news today that is was 5 plants ... 1 in Canada and 4 in the USA. And GM stock was up today over the news. Said they were going more into electric and self driving cars. They might be in for a surprise IMO.

I read also that a Korean plant was closing as well.

 

[Bjornviken]

Originally Posted by ZeeOSix

Originally Posted by Bjornviken

7 factory and 10k peapol have to go world wide. Sad news!

I heard on the news today that is was 5 plants ... 1 in Canada and 4 in the USA. And GM stock was up today over the news. Said they were going more into electric and self driving cars. They might be in for a surprise IMO.

Ok, can be error in the news over here, heard about the ev news too. Think ev cars becomes more popular.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Pure EVs are only useful in heavily populated areas where people don't have to drive very far, and there is some charging system infrastructure. I just can't see it taking off like wild fire.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by ZeeOSix

Pure EVs are only useful in heavily populated areas where people don't have to drive very far, and there is some charging system infrastructure. I just can't see it taking off like wild fire.

Exactly.

 

[Garak]

If this does come to pass, I wouldn't doubt that the cost of electricity in Ontario were a major factor. Sure, it's not everything, but I'd hate to see the monthly power bill for that plant. GM and other automakers are clearly changing their lineups and have to shuffle infrastructure, but when you tick off the boxes that add up to a lot of expenses, a certain factory winds up on the chopping block.

 

[Bjornviken]

Originally Posted by ZeeOSix

Pure EVs are only useful in heavily populated areas where people don't have to drive very far, and there is some charging system infrastructure. I just can't see it taking off like wild fire.

And warm climats

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted by JeffKeryk

NUMMI was the biggest employer in Fremont, CA. When it closed, the tax base was hit hard along so many jobs, both direct and indirect. Before that, GM made El Caminos and other cars. Our 1965 4-4-2 was made there. Now Teslas are made there. There is a "Great Mall" near there that used to be a Ford plant. Mustangs!

The tax based has been replaced with Facebook (Ardenwood) and Cisco (North San Jose / Milpitas). Having an auto assembly plant next to Silicon Valley is going to be expensive regardless of union or not. Wish the Oshawa people the best with something to replace the GM's loss.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by Bjornviken

Originally Posted by ZeeOSix

Pure EVs are only useful in heavily populated areas where people don't have to drive very far, and there is some charging system infrastructure. I just can't see it taking off like wild fire.

And warm climats

Yes. If GM can't afford to build any cars in Ontario, much less electric ones, how are Ontarians expected to afford to drive them?

 

[ZeeOSix]

World news just said GM is planning on cutting up to 14,000 jobs total, including 15% of it's white collar workers. Still saying they are going to close 1 plant in Canada and 4 in the USA.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted by ZeeOSix

World news just said GM is planning on cutting up to 14,000 jobs total, including 15% of it's white collar workers. Still saying they are going to close 1 plant in Canada and 4 in the USA.

Lots of pain here in the USA. Consumer buying trends changed.

 

[wings&wheels]

Buying trends have changed, both in type (SUV/CUV vs. sedan) but also between brands and a successful company is able to anticipate and adapt to these changing tastes...as well as help guide them through marketing. Sadly, GM has not been too successful at this for many years. My fear is that, with this decision, when consumer demand invariably shifts away from the S/CUV, the domestics will, to varying degrees be in the same position as they were in '08; late to the game with the wrong product mix. In the end, we will all probably bear some of the costs for this again. After hearing this sad news, I paid particular attention to sedans during my past two day's driving. There are many sedans around the suburbia here, mostly Hondas, smaller Lexus, lots of Fusions, Audis and BMW. I saw very few GM. GM is doing the right thing in cost cutting to include ending production of these models, they do not appear to be selling or making the necessary margins, but the mistakes were made long ago that resulted in their losing much of this market segment.

 

[irv]

Originally Posted by Garak

If this does come to pass, I wouldn't doubt that the cost of electricity in Ontario were a major factor. Sure, it's not everything, but I'd hate to see the monthly power bill for that plant. GM and other automakers are clearly changing their lineups and have to shuffle infrastructure, but when you tick off the boxes that add up to a lot of expenses, a certain factory winds up on the chopping block.

That is one, if not currently, GM Oshawa's biggest expenses! Not to get all political but the Liberals Green Energy Boondoggle and Trudope's carbon tax scheme, among other things, are 2 huge reasons why GM is packing up shop here. They simply can't compete here due to these crazy extra costs and the Liberal Gov't is largely to blame for a lot of those.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Originally Posted by ZeeOSix

Originally Posted by Bjornviken

7 factory and 10k peapol have to go world wide. Sad news!

I heard on the news today that is was 5 plants ... 1 in Canada and 4 in the USA. And GM stock was up today over the news. Said they were going more into electric and self driving cars. They might be in for a surprise IMO.

I agree. Too much money into the electric car and self driving car hype may hurt them. GM is drinking the purple coolaid.