GM To Temporarily Halt Production At CAMI Assembly Plant In Ingersoll, Says Unifor: Retail Stays Bearish

Canadian union Unifor said on Friday that automaker General Motors (GM) has decided to temporarily halt production at the CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, with layoffs likely by the end of the year.

The union said the company plans to temporarily halt and then reduce production of the BrightDrop electric delivery van at the plant.

GM informed the union of temporary layoffs starting April 14 at CAMI Assembly. Workers will return in May for limited production, and thereafter, production will cease again, with operations idling until October 2025, Unifor said.

The union said the company intends to complete retooling work during the downtime to prepare the facility for the new model year of commercial electric vehicles.

However, when production resumes in October, the plant will operate on a single shift for the foreseeable future, Unifor said, while adding that this will result in the layoff of about 500 workers.

Unifor National President Lana Payne termed the temporary shutdown starting in April “a crushing blow” and called upon the company to mitigate job loss.  

Unifor also noted that the imposition of tariffs by the U.S. on vehicles made in Canada has sent “shockwaves” through the industry.

“Trump’s short-sighted tariffs and rejection of EV technology is disrupting investment and freezing future order projections,” said Payne. “This is creating an opening for China and other foreign automakers to dominate the global EV market while the North America industry risks falling behind.”

GM began production of BrightDrop electric vehicles at the CAMI Assembly plant in early 2023.

“While GM has indicated it remains committed to the CAMI facility, with upgrades for the 2026 model year, the immediate future remains uncertain without stronger domestic support and fair market access,” Unifor said.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around GM fell six points further into the ‘bearish’ territory over the past 24 hours while message volume fell from ‘normal’ to ‘low.

GM stock is down by over 15% year-to-date and by nearly 1% over the past 12 months.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com<