Governments should wise up when the next bailout happens. Seek collateral on the company via shares or some other valuable goods that are not easy to shed. Enforce some board member, etc.<p>For all the criticism Chinese tech companies get, the main control the Chinese government has is by being the largest shareholder of said companies. If the company does something that jeopardizes the stability of society, just enforce control. Every sizable Chinese company has a party secretary for the very same reason.
Millions in gov't subsidies, a major bailout in 2009 that saved their company, non-stop threats of closure and ongoing clawbacks of manufacturing. And in the end... up and out.<p>Obviously it is GM's prerogative and can do as they please but it is time for politicians to stop falling for the folly. Just like your stocks and mutual funds - diversify your industries and don't rely on one big player.
GM's statement from today: <a href="https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/home.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2018/nov/1126-gm.html" rel="nofollow">https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/home.detail.html/content...</a><p>"Today, GM is continuing to take proactive steps to improve overall business performance including the reorganization of its global product development staffs, the realignment of its manufacturing capacity and a reduction of salaried workforce."<p>...<p>Increasing capacity utilization – In the past four years, GM has refocused capital and resources to support the growth of its crossovers, SUVs and trucks, adding shifts and investing $6.6 billion in U.S. plants that have created or maintained 17,600 jobs. With changing customer preferences in the U.S. and in response to market-related volume declines in cars, future products will be allocated to fewer plants next year.<p>Assembly plants that will be unallocated in 2019 include:<p><pre><code> Oshawa Assembly in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Detroit.
Lordstown Assembly in Warren, Ohio.
</code></pre>
Propulsion plants that will be unallocated in 2019 include:<p><pre><code> Baltimore Operations in White Marsh, Maryland.
Warren Transmission Operations in Warren, Michigan.</code></pre>
My former SO lives in Oshawa and I spent a lot of time there.<p>I got to know a few people that worked at the factory. GM announced they were going to pull out of Oshawa more than 5 years ago. They've been operating on borrowed time. Nobody there will be surprised at the news. From what I recall it was mostly impala and camaro assembly happening there.<p>The GO train takes you right into Toronto, there's no doubt in my mind most of the laidoff will find work.
The most shocking part of this to me is that they are cutting the Volt? There was so much R&D in that car and it's such an amazing vehicle that I'm shocked. Everybody I know that has one LOVES it.<p>They just need to do a better job of advertising it. It's not advertised AT ALL. The only people who know about it know about it from word of mouth and research.
Most people posting here say that the US/Canadian government should interfere here. I'd like to present a different point of view: I am relatively young, from the Netherlands and started my job a few years ago. I do not really remember the 2008/2009 bailouts. I have some savings, and I invested mostly in a Dutch ETF, which lead to a nice mix of tech, finance, Food Industry and a big oil company.<p>I invested a small portion of my money in GM because I did not have a car manufacturer in my portfolio, and Tesla seemed hyped to me. I considered that GM is making a profit, betting on electric cars and already has an affordable model on the roads that could actually benefit society.<p>I do not care wheter GM production is in the US, Canada, Mexico or China, as long as the employees are treated fairly. In fact, I would think it is unfair that GM makes a choice that will lead to lower dividends and is held back by something that happened prior to the moment that I invested in it.
Its interesting to see so many here have the opinion that the subsidies were wasted and the governments should have let GM fail, not spend taxpayer dollars to bail them out.<p>And yet, most on HN seem perfectly happy to give Amazon huge tax breaks to setup in NY, which is <i>exactly</i> the same thing.
Slowing sales of pickup trucks and sedans -- Silverado and Impala in particular.<p>Ford recently announced ceasing production of all sedans in favor of SUV's. GM said it wouldn't follow suit but it looks like the market might be dictating terms.
For those critical of the 2008-2009 bailouts, GM or any other automaker with manufacturing operations in North America going belly up would have contributed to an even larger disaster. It's not just the main plants that would be affected, but also the entire supply chain - from mom & pop shops up to the big component manufacturers located in clusters across the country, not to mention GE, National Instruments, Intel, and myriad manufacturing-focused startups.
What other auto companies manufacture in Ontario? Toyota?<p>Its so awful when you lose your job because the job goes away. So many people are going to have to retrain.
I understand Ontario has very high electrical rates and labor rates. There is also the issue of the Federal Governments new Cap and Trade policy although I don't know if GM received a waiver. Did these things maybe cause GM to close the plant?