Out of Jobs and Jobs: Trump Attacks General Motors

Out of Jobs and Jobs: Trump Attacks General Motors

STRAIT. The planned cancellation of thousands of jobs and the possible closure of several factories of the largest American manufacturer, General Motors (GM), puts President Donald Trump angry.

Picture: (REUTERS)

The head of government reacted with extreme annoyance to the announcements from GM management regarding major job cuts and threatening consequences.

"You should open a new plant there," Trump told the "Wall Street Journal" about the imminent departure of a large Ohio site. He told GM director Mary Barra during a conversation Sunday that she had "a problem" if the job was to remain permanently closed.

He also asked Barra to stop car production in China. To reporters in Washington, Trump said that the United States had done a lot for GM – and that they were able to put a lot of pressure on the Detroit-based company.

The company had announced that it would reduce domestic production, lay off staff and shut down some production facilities. The main reasons are weakening sales of small cars in the United States and rising material costs. Preliminary products important to the automotive industry, however, have become more expensive, for example, because of Trump's special tariffs for steel.

The austerity program should prepare GM in the future and significantly reduce costs. Barra has justified the need to adapt to changing market conditions. GM must also invest billions of dollars in the expansion of electromobility. Archer rivals Volkswagen have recently launched a mbadive investment plan, with Japanese and South Korean rivals also in the running. The money for this must win the auto companies in addition and save some other places. It's about "positioning the company for long-term success," Barra said.

GM wants to hire low-cost models and focus more on innovative areas such as electric cars and autonomous driving. A radical transformation is needed, said Barra. In the United States and Canada, five plants could be closed by the end of 2019. About 6,000 workers would lose their jobs. In addition, the company must be hired in two international factories.

GM had already adopted in 2017 a chronic European business deficit with the German ex-girl Opel and the British brand Vauxhall. In the end, the US group had to spend 6.2 billion dollars (5.5 billion euros) on the sale to the French group PSA.

At present, GM has announced its intention to reduce the number of employees in North America by approximately 15%. A quarter of them include executive positions designed to simplify decision-making processes. According to the US media, the reduction could reach 10,000 to 15,000 employees. Initially, it was unclear whether and to what extent employees were covered, to whom severance pay offers had already been made.

One thing is certain: GM wants to increase costs by about $ 4.5 billion by 2020. However, special expenses such as severance pay for layoffs will initially cost up to $ 3.8 billion. . In fact, GM's business has been running for the last time. During the summer quarter, sales grew 6.4% and net profit was surprisingly high at $ 2.5 billion.

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