Automaker General Motors (GM) has announced that it is cutting production of its all-electric BrightDrop delivery vans at a plant in Canada.
The electric van plant will be idled for 20 weeks from May until October. After that the plant will be reduced from two shifts to one shift and 500 jobs will be cut. GM said it is undertaking the prolonged shutdown and reducing production due to “market demand.”
The Detroit automaker stressed in a written statement that the decision regarding the assembly plant in Ontario Canada is not related to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 10% tariffs on foreign imports. “This adjustment is directly related to responding to market demand and re-balancing inventory,” said GM.
A ‘Crushing Blow’
Unifor, the union that represents workers at the plant, described General Motors’ decision as a “crushing blow to hundreds of working families.” The union is urging General Motors to “do everything in its power to mitigate job loss during this downturn.”
GM launched its BrightDrop vans as a fully-owned subsidiary in 2021, before folding it into the company’s fleet business in 2023. The company had high expectations of making BrightDrop into a lucrative growth business for the automaker, but sales and revenue did not meet the company’s initial expectations. In 2023 and 2024, the automaker only sold about 2,000 of the electric vans, according to its sales reports.
The idling of the plant comes weeks after media reports said that hundreds of BrightDrop electric vans are lining a storage lot in Michigan. Still, worries are running high in Canada about the impact that U.S. tariffs will have on the country’s manufacturing sector and its automotive industry that feeds vehicles and parts to neighboring Detroit.
Is GM Stock a Buy?
The stock of General Motors has a consensus Moderate Buy rating among 15 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on nine Buy, four Hold, and two Sell recommendations assigned in the last three months. The average GM price target of $58.90 implies 34.94% upside from current levels.
