GM announces temporary layoffs of hundreds at Kansas plant
General Motors said Thursday it will layoff hundreds of employees at Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, as it ends production of the Chevrolet Malibu sedan.
The automaker said 680 employees at the plant will start their layoff on Nov. 18. The automaker told employees of its plan to do phased layoffs earlier this year.
“As previously announced in May, GM is investing approximately $390 million in our Fairfax Assembly Plant to add production of the new Chevrolet Bolt EV,” GM spokesman Kevin Kelly said in a statement to the Detroit Free Press. “To facilitate the installation of new tooling, employees will be placed on a temporary layoff until production resumes in mid-2025.”
General Motors employees work on the assembly line Friday, April 26, 2019 at Fairfax Assembly & Stamping Plant in Kansas City, Kansas. The Fairfax facility produces the Cadillac XT4 and Chevrolet Malibu.
The affected employees will be supported according to the provisions of the UAW-GM agreement, Kelly said. The UAW did not immediately provide a comment for this story.
The Malibu was first launched in 1964 and discontinued in 1983, but revived in 1997, according to Edmunds.com. GM sold millions of the family sedan over those decades, even selling some generations as police vehicles. But in May, GM said it would end production of the car to make way to build the new generation Bolt at Fairfax. GM CEO Mary Barra has said the next generation of Bolt EVs will likely arrive in 2025.
Chevrolet’s only remaining gasoline-powered car in its lineup is the Corvette, because GM ended production of the Camaro muscle car last year. GM introduced a hybrid variant of the Corvette, called the E-Ray, earlier this year.
Besides the Malibu, GM builds the Cadillac XT4 SUV at Fairfax Assembly. But production of the XT4 will pause in January and the remaining shift of people will be temporarily laid off then. According to GM’s website, Fairfax Assembly has 2,275 total employees. Kelly said GM plans to resume production of the XT4 at Fairfax once the retooling is complete.
The new Bolt will use GM’s Ultium propulsion system. The previous generation Bolt was built at Orion Assembly plant in Orion Township. That plant is being retooled to build the Chevrolet Silverado EV, which is currently made at Factory Zero in Detroit and Hamtramck. In July, GM said Orion will not begin production until mid-2026.
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This is a developing story.
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM announces temporary layoffs of hundreds at Kansas plant
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