GM to Lay Off 2,000

GM is laying off 2,000 employees from its Lordstown and Lansing facilities:

General Motors plans to lay off more than 2,000 hourly employees due to sluggish demand for cars produced at two plants.

The automaker will eliminate the third shifts at plants in Lordstown, Ohio, and Lansing, Mich., in January.

Lordstown will cut 1,202 hourly employees and 43 salaried workers, while Lansing will see 810 hourly and 29 salaried workers affected.

Basically, what’s happening is that lower gas prices are motivating people to buy larger cars or trucks. The plants in question produce small cars: the Chevy Cruze and Camaro and the Cadillac CTS and ATS.

No doubt about it. It’s hard on the workers but it might be good for GM. The margins are better on the vehicles they are selling. Sales are slower than they were six months ago but they’re still higher than they’ve been for a decade.