Slow EV sales blamed for layoffs at Lordstown's Ultium Cells - WFMJ.com News weather sports for Youngstown-Warren Ohio

DETROIT -

General Motors Co. and its joint-venture partner Ultium Cells are cutting 550 jobs at the electric vehicle battery cell plant in Lordstown, and have slated another 850 employees for temporary layoff, The Detroit News reported Wednesday.

The decision comes as part of a move by GM to adjust its electric vehicle capacity in response to a slowing U.S. electric vehicle market and an evolving regulatory environment.

"Electric vehicles haven't been selling," David Welch, Bloomberg analyst said. "There was some sales growth for a few years there, it kind of had started slowing down on it's own," he said.

When President Trump ended the Biden-era tax credits, sales really plummetted.

Gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy weighed in on X calling it, "Crushing news for the hardworking people of the Mahoning Valley & yet another consequence of failed central planning: Washington D.C. forced the auto industry to chase EV quotas the market didn't want. That government mistake is now the cause of 550 layoffs at the GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio. The fact this could've been avoided won't make it any easier on these workers, their families, or this community, but we can pursue a better way forward: let consumers - not mandates - decide what wins. That's how Ohio will lead again."

The company's in full retrench mode, that means they're cutting production back at their E.V. plants, they're cutting it back at the battery cell plants like Ultium in Warren, Ohio and workers are getting laid off," Welch said.

Ultium Cells will pause those operations in Lordstown starting Jan. 5 and continuing through at least May, a GM spokesperson told The Detroit News.

President of the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber, Guy Coviello believes it won't last.

"I feel terrible, it's unfortunate," Coviello said. "Electric vehicles are part of the world's future and so I do think that most of these jobs will come back it's just a question of when, it's not if," he said.

At the same time, Welch said a lot of this is to be determined, how many will come back and when, because no one really knows the real size of the EV market in the U.S.

Ultium Cells plants in Spring Hill, Tennessee, are also scheduled to pause operations during that same timeframe, with the Tennessee plant temporarily laying off 700 workers, according to the newspaper.

The cuts are not limited to battery plants. General Motors is also laying off approximately 1,200 workers at its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, now known as Factory Zero, as the company downsizes to a single shift at the all-electric plant. The Detroit-Hamtramck plant will shut down Nov. 24 and reopen on Jan. 5 after the holidays with only one operating shift.

The newspaper reported that cuts will be based on seniority. Impacted employees may be eligible for SUB pay and benefits in accordance with the National GM-UAW Agreement.

21 News has reached out to Ultium and the UAW for more information and has yet to get a reply.

This is a developing story. 21 News will post updates as they happen. Stay in the loop on the 21 News app or wfmj.com