GM delays production of 2 EV pickups by another year
Move not tied to UAW strike, idles Orion Assembly until late 2025
General Motors is pushing back production of two all-electric pickups at Orion Assembly plant by a full year, thereby idling the factory at the end of this year and transferring about 1,000 workers to other GM facilities in the state.
GM had planned to start production on the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV next year, but on Tuesday the automaker announced that it will “retime the conversion” of Orion Assembly plant in Orion Township to EV truck production and restart the plant in late 2025 instead.
“This has nothing to do with labor negotiations or the strike,” said GM spokesman Kevin Kelly, when asked whether the ongoing strike, now in its fifth week, by the UAW with the Detroit Three automakers is causing GM to delay EV production or make other manufacturing moves.
GM currently builds the Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV at Orion. GM said earlier this year it will stop production of the Bolts there by year end to focus on production of the 2024 Silverado EV pickup. In July, GM said it would launch a next-generation, Ultium-based Bolt but details on the updated Bolt were limited, and GM has not said where it would be built.
GM said it is delaying production of the Silverado EV and Sierra EV at Orion to better manage its capital investment in EVs and to align the investment with evolving EV demand.
“We’re looking at EV demand and the
trendline for EVs is stabilizing,” Kelly said. “It is not rising as fast as originally forecasted.”
Additionally, Kelly said GM has found engineering improvements to implement on the pickups to “increase the profitability” of the vehicles.
The UAW did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
GM presently makes the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV work truck at Factory Zero in Detroit and Hamtramck alongside the GMC Hummer EV pickup, Hummer SUV and Cruise Origin autonomous vehicle. That production continues, Kelly said, and production on the GMC Sierra EV is on track to begin there some time next year.
Kelly said there was always going to be a gap
between when production of the Bolt ended at Orion and production of the EV pickups begin. Therefore, consistent with the original plant conversion plan, union-represented hourly employees at Orion will be offered other jobs in Michigan, including jobs at Factory Zero, where production has been steadily increasing. GM expects to significantly increase production there next year.
In January 2022, GM announced it would invest $4 billion to convert Orion Assembly to produce the EV pickups on GM’s proprietary Ultium propulsion system.