Strike cost GM $3.6B in earnings in 2019

The United Auto Workers’ 40-day strike against General Motors last year forced the automaker to record a loss for the fourth quarter of 2019.

GM co-owns the DMAX truck engine plant in Moraine and is building a new $175 million DMAX plant in Brookville that is slated to open later this year. Not counting suppliers, DMAX will have close to 1,000 Dayton-area employees once the new plant is operating.

The national UAW strike against GM hit hard. The automaker reported Wednesday that four weeks of vehicle production were lost in the strike, reducing wholesales by 191,000 units year over the year.

The net strike impact to fourth quarter EBIT-adjusted (earnings before interest and taxes) was $2.6 billion, or $1.39 per diluted-adjusted share.

For the full year, the strike reduced EBIT-adjusted by $3.6 billion and lowered adjusted auto free cash flow by $5.4 billion, GM also said.

GM lost $194 million in the final quarter, largely due to the strike.

The automaker reported $137.2 billion in net revenue for the entire year, down 6.7 percent for the same measure in 2018. The company also saw $6.7 billion in income for the year, down 17.4 percent compared to 2018.

Despite the strike, GM said its “underlying performance remained strong, driven by sales of GM’s all-new full-size pickups and the company’s ongoing cost actions.”