General Motors has announced its intention to close its assembly plant in Oshawa, Ont., in 2019 at a time when Canada is struggling to remain competitive in the global automotive industry.
“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,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “We recognize the need to stay in front of changing market conditions and customer preferences to position our company for long-term success.”
The closure of the Oshawa plant will reportedly eliminate nearly 3,000 jobs, according to the Financial Post. One of the reasons it has been selected is because the plant produces sedans and consumer demands are more geared towards crossovers, sport utility vehicles and trucks.
Two U.S. plants, the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Detroit and Lordstown Assembly in Warren, Ohio, will also shut down next year. And two propulsion plants, one in Maryland and one in Michigan will also be “unallocated”, based on GM’s November 26 announcement. Another two assembly plants outside of North America will cease operations in 2019.
The government of Canada expressed its disappointment of the situation through a statement made by Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.
“As we look to the future, we are developing a plan that will build on Canadian competitive advantages to secure the role of Canada’s auto industry in the development and manufacturing of the car of the future,” said Bains. “As outlined in the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, we have also been working with Minister Garneau to develop a Zero-Emission Vehicle Strategy.”
Steel and aluminum tariffs were rumoured to be one of the factor’s of the plant shutdowns. The levy has not been lifted from Canada or Mexico, and is not expected to be removed before the two nations sign the new USMCA agreement at the G20 Summit in November.
