Trump reacts to GM’s move to cut jobs, reduce plants

US president Donald Trump is threatening to end electric car subsidies for General Motors after the company announced it will mothball eight plants and cut about 14,000 jobs.

GM has announced it is “accelerating transformation” of its global product development which includes doubling resources allocated to electric and autonomous vehicle (AV) programmes in the next two years.

The US$6 billion cost-cutting plan comes as Americans ditch passenger cars in preference to SUVs and utes, which GM says it has spent the past four years refocusing on.

GM plans to stop producing its plug-in hybrid car the Chevrolet Volt, along with the Chevrolet Cruze and Impala in the US, and end US sales of its Cadillac XTS, CT6 and Buick LaCross luxury cars, USA Today reports.

Future products will be allocated to fewer plants next year, GM says. It’s “unallocating” assembly plants in 2019 in Canada, Detroit and Ohio, doing the same with propulsion plants in Maryland and Michigan.

GM will also stop operations at two plants outside North American by the end of 2019, in addition to its already announced closure of an assembly plant in Gunsan, Korea.

“To further enhance business performance, GM will continue working to improve other manufacturing costs, productivity and the competitiveness of wages and benefits,” GM says.

The union representing workers at the US sites plans to challenge GM’s move.

Since committing to an all-electric future, GM is developing “flexible electrification” technologies which include two integrated and connected electric bikes – one folding, with e-bike fans asked to come up with a brand name for cash prizes.