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General Motors will temporarily lay off workers at its Wentzville assembly plant in Missouri. According to a letter sent to employees by the head of the plant and the head of the local union, a shortage of parts is the culprit, and as a result the factory will see "a temporary layoff from September 29-October 19." The plant is about 45 minutes west of St Louis and employs more than 4,000 people to assemble midsize pickup trucks for Chevrolet and GMC, as well as full-size vans.

Not every employee will be laid off—"skilled trades, stamping, body shop, final process and those groups that support these departments" may still have work.

Government policies

Earlier this month, GM revealed plans to reduce the number of electric vehicles it builds, despite having a bumper month in August that saw it sell very nearly twice as many EVs as Ford. In that case, it blamed weak demand for electric vehicles, no doubt forecasting what the end of the IRS clean vehicle tax credit will do to the market.

Current US President Donald Trump made no secret of his dislike for EVs during his campaign, and since taking office in January his administration has worked hard to remove incentives for private and commercial buyers, as well as attacking subsidies for manufacturing and, most recently, the mass arrest of hundreds of South Korean workers setting up a battery factory in Georgia, meant to supply Hyundai's nearby Metaplant, which builds the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 EVs.

Seeing a future with fewer EV sales, GM responded by scheduling a December shutdown of the Cadillac Lyriq and Vistiq production lines at its Spring Hill plant in Tennessee and laying off workers on the second shift. The automaker is also delaying plans for a second shift at its Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas, which is set to build the rebatteried Chevrolet Bolt, which is being brought back to showrooms with a new lithium-iron phosphate battery pack sometime next year.

"General Motors is making strategic production adjustments in alignment with expected slower EV industry growth and customer demand by leveraging our flexible ICE (internal combustion engine) and EV manufacturing footprint," it told Reuters. This time, it looks like the government's trade policy is to blame, rather than its clean energy or immigration policies.

General Motors donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration, and the head of the United Auto Workers has been a strong supporter of Trump's trade war, hailing the president for "stepping up to end the free-trade disaster."