UAW Views Domestic Sedan Production As a Threat To Jobs

Gorehamj · July 21, 2017

John Goreham
Contributing Writer, GM-Trucks.com
7-21-2017

Cars have jumped the shark. We have been reportin g on this trend for years now at GM-Trucks.com. Trucks still hold the title for most sold single nameplate (Ford F-150), but trucks are no longer the largest segment anymore either. Compact crossovers are. Midisze crossovers have also now surpassed midsized sedans in sales, though the size alignment is a bit screwy. Compact crossovers are actually more roomy than midsize sedans in most ways. These new facts have not been lost on the Americans who build some of GM's vehicles. The UAW is asking GM to stop having them build cars domestically and to shift its workers to build the vehicles that consumers actually want and will buy.

A Reuters report quotes the president of the United Auto Workers union, Dennis Williams, as saying "We are talking to (GM) right now about the products that they currently have at underused car plants such as Hamtramck in Michigan and Lordstown in Ohio, and whether they might be replaced with newer, more popular vehicles such as crossovers. We are tracking it (and) we are addressing it,"

Long-time friend to GM-Trucks.com, Sam Fiorani, vice president of AutoForecast Solutions, says that GM needs to get some innovative products in the pipeline. GM is certainly trying. The Buick brand, in particular, is reshaping its lineup to include more crossovers. Unfortunately for the UAW, and the American families that those workers support, Buick's top-selling new crossovers are made in China (Envision) and in multiple non-North American locations (Encore). The UAW is wise to start looking closely at what it is building and what the sales trends are.

Colossus · July 22, 2017

GM needs to improve quality and reliability. Then they will sell.

Chevyguy85 · July 23, 2017

Over pricing everything doesn't help either.

MikeNH · July 23, 2017

GM needs to improve quality and reliability. Then they will sell.

No one is selling sedans right now.

scott19677 · July 23, 2017

I saw the article yesterday that said GM will most likely stop building up to 5 different current cars. I think the Impala, a few different Caddy 's and a couple of compacts were among the rumored.

The Zip · July 23, 2017

I saw the article yesterday that said GM will most likely stop building up to 5 different current cars.

It's called right-sizing. A lot of these young, boardroom corporate types has the company trying to keep up with the trends, that's probably 5 more vehicle types than they should have anyway. Model T may have been in two or three versions, but it was still just a Model T.