General Motors announces the closure of seven of its plants worldwide

General Motors will lay off 14,700 manufacturing and administrative workers in North America and investigate the closure of five plants as part of a restructuring process to reduce costs and focus more on electronic and autonomous vehicles.

The reduction includes 8,100 administrative staff, some of whom will accept paid voluntary retirement, while others will be fired. Most of the factories involved are manufacturing cars that will not be sold in the US starting next year. They could close or make other vehicles. This will be part of negotiations with the UAW Automobile Union next year.

The five North American plants affected by the announcement are Detroit; Lordstown, Ohio; and Oshawa, Ontario. Transmission plants in Warren, Michigan and Baltimore will also be affected. In addition, it will also cancel two more in other countries, which have not yet been announced.

More than 6,000 workers would lose their jobs in the United States and Canada, but some could be transferred to truck and SUV factories.

GM, the largest US automaker in the US, with Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC brands, announced a $ 6 billion savings next year, including a $ 4.5 billion annual reduction recurring costs and a $ 1.5 billion reduction in capital expenditures.

These discounts add to the 6,500 million euros announced by the company this year.

GM does not expect a fall in the economy. He said the cuts were preventative, "while the company is strong and the economy is strong," Mary Barra, CEO, told reporters.

Barra said GM is hiring people who are trained in software and electric and independent vehicles, and that many who will lose their jobs are currently working in conventional cars equipped with internal combustion engines.

The industry is evolving rapidly, moving to electric propulsion, autonomous vehicles and shared vehicles, and GM needs to adapt accordingly, Barra said.

The closure of some factories is part of GM's efforts to "adapt our capacity to market realities" as consumers abandon their cars by trucks and SUVs.

The company has invested in new architectures for trucks and vehicles to reduce investment while increasing investments in autonomous and electric vehicles.