General Motors (GM) announced on Thursday that it’s temporarily laying off roughly 200 workers at its flagship electric vehicle plant, Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center. Despite nearly doubling its year-over-year growth in the electric vehicle segment for Q1 2025, the company cites a dampening demand for EVs as the reason for the layoffs.
GM spokesman Kevin Kelly has publicly stated that the decision to implement temporary layoffs isn’t tariff-related. Instead, it is due to the shifting market conditions for the vehicles produced at the Factory Zero plant. The facility produces the GMC Hummer EV, the pickup and SUV model, the GMC Sierra EV, the Chevrolet Silverado EV, and the Cadillac Escalade IQ.
Despite GM becoming the second best-seller of electric vehicles in the United States, second only to Tesla, EV sales have missed the industry’s expectations. The challenges against electrification are mounting as the Trump administration seeks to repeal electric vehicle mandates, cease federal funding for EV charging infrastructure, and scrap the electric vehicle tax credit.
Although claiming that the cut isn’t tariff-related, the cost of building the EVs will likely increase due to the auto tariffs. The automaker is currently working on localizing its supply chain. However, the company still imports foreign components for its EV battery supply.
The temporary layoffs at Factory Zero will allow GMo to better align its production output with the current market demand. The plant employs a little over 4,500 workers. Impacted employees will be eligible to receive subpay and benefits under the GM-UAW contract during the layoff period.
