General Motors shaking things up; to cut 15% jobs, shuts down 5 plants in North America

General Motors, the largest American automobile manufacturer, is all set to undergo a major restructuring in the next couple of months. In a press statement, General Motors said it will continue to take proactive steps to improve overall business performance including the reorganization of its global product development staffs, the realignment of its manufacturing capacity and a reduction of salaried workforce.

As part of the plan, General Motors plans to end production of vehicles at five manufacturing units in North America. The plants are in Detroit, Ohio and Ontario, Canada, and transmission factories in Michigan and Maryland.

In addition, GM will cease the operations of two unnamed additional plants outside North America by the end of 2019. It needs to be noted that GM has already announced the closure of the assembly plant in Gunsan, South Korea.

The company will also rework on the global workforce. GM claims actions are being taken to reduce salaried and salaried contract staff by 15 per cent, which includes 25 per cent fewer executives to streamline decision making. It is expected around 18,000 people will be affected by the job cut globally.

"These actions will increase the long-term profit and cash generation potential of the company and improve resilience through the cycle," said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. "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."

General Motors has been struggling with the unprecedented fall in sales of sedan models in the US. The automaker is pondering over the discontinuation of models like Chevrolet Cruze, Impala, Volt, Cadillac CT6, Buick LaCrosse to focus on SUVs and pick-up trucks to turn the table.

General Motors has been consolidating its global business from last year. GM have sold Vauxhall and Opel, their British and European brands, to Groupe PSA recently and also closed down operation of Chevrolet brand in India.