The autonomous revolution is nearly upon us, and General Motors is entering the fray properly with this, the Cruise AV. The fruit of GM’s $1 billion acquisition of Cruise Automotive back in March of 2016, the Cruise AV is a properly driverless car. That is to say, it has no steering wheel, no pedals and no real driver controls at all — aside from a touchscreen — and GM says it’ll hit the road in 2019.
General Motors will cut production and eliminate 1,100 workers at a plant in Michigan as it shifts production of a sport utility vehicle model to another factory in Tennessee. Most are hourly workers, with about 14 salaried.
The Lansing Delta Township plant will cease output of GMC Acadia SUVs on May 12, Tom Wickham. About 800 new jobs were created in that state as a result – and GM announced in January that it was adding a third shift in Spring Hill.
PSA Group is discussing a potential acquisition of rival European carmaker Opel from General Motors, a spokesman for the French automaker said on Tuesday.
"PSA confirms that it is exploring a number of strategic initiatives with GM with the aim of increasing its profitability and operating efficiency, including a potential acquisition of Opel," company spokesman Bertrand Blaise said.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday pushed the heads of GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler to build more of their cars in the United States and boost American employment in the process.
After weeks of taunting the automotive industry over Twitter, Trump made a point to meet with the CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler just days into his term. He has pressured the companies to build more vehicles in the U.S. and hire more Americans into manufacturing jobs.
"I want new plants to be built here for cars sold here!" Trump said in a tweet ahead of the breakfast meeting with automakers, saying he would discuss U.S. jobs with the chief executives.
General Motors and Unifor, the Canadian trade union of workers in the sector, reached an agreement that averted a strike that would lead to blocking of some of the Canadian facilities of the company.
The deal, which will be subject to a ratification vote on Sunday, provides that Oshawa’s assembly plant will remain open, that it’s focused on sedans that come out of production in 2019 and GM is committed to investing "hundreds of millions of dollars" in a restructuring program to allow the assembly also of other product categories.
