GM to pause production at five U.S. factories as inventory grows

Automaker General Motors will temporarily close five factories in January 2017 as it struggles to reduce a growing inventory of cars on dealer lots.

The factories will close anywhere from one to three weeks due to the continuing U.S. market shift toward trucks and SUVs, spokeswoman Dayna Hart said in a statement. Approximately 10,000 workers will be idled.

The company’s Detroit-Hamtramck factory and Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City each will be shut down for three weeks, while a plant in Lansing, Mich. will be down for two weeks. Factories in Lordstown, Ohio, and Bowling Green, Ken. each will be idled for one week.

The factories make most cars in the General Motors lineup including the Chevrolet Cruze, Camaro, Corvette, Malibu, Volt and Impala; the Cadillac CT6, CTS and ATS; and the Buick Lacrosse.

GM’s inventory of vehicles on dealer lots at the end of November stood at 874,162, up 26.5 per cent from the same time a year ago.

Workers at the plants will get company supplemental pay and unemployment benefits that add up to most of their pay, Hart said.