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General Motors' Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee is planning several weeks of downtime in the coming months, according to a memo obtained by the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Additionally, the Detroit automaker told the Free Press on Sept. 4 that it is adjusting future production plans at its Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, and at its CAMI Assembly Plant line in Ingersoll, Ontario.
Spring Hill makes the Cadillac Lyriq SUV and Vistiq, while Fairfax is currently closed as the facility prepares to produce the Chevrolet Bolt EV. CAMI produces the BrightDrop electric delivery van.
“General Motors is making strategic production adjustments in alignment with expected slower EV industry growth and customer demand by leveraging our flexible ICE and EV manufacturing footprint,” GM spokesman Kevin Kelly said in a statement. "GM's U.S. manufacturing footprint remains our strength, and we are in the process of investing nearly $5 billion over the next two years to further increase domestic vehicle production, enabling the ability to assemble more than 2 million vehicles per year in the U.S.”
Spring Hill will close the week of Oct. 6 and the week of Thanksgiving, as well as the full month of December, according to the memo sent to employees Sept. 3. The change will impact vehicle assembly as well as the teams that assemble battery packs for electric-vehicle batteries, GM confirmed. Ultium Cell employees will not be affected.
Separately, Fairfax Assembly, which ended production earlier this year of the Cadillac XT4 and the Chevrolet Malibu, is no longer planning to add a second shift once construction ramps up on the Bolt. GM said this summer it plans to begin assembly of the gas-powered Chevrolet Equinox in Fairfax by mid-2027.
Plans were to start with one shift in November, according to the company website, but now GM says it will wait on market conditions before making the decision to expand to a second shift.
Meanwhile, the production pause at CAMI will be extended through Nov. 17. CAMI Assembly had run two shifts while producing Chevrolet BrightDrop vehicles, but GM said in April that the plant would initiate temporary layoffs. The Canadian general trade union Unifor said those layoffs would last through October. During this downtime, GM says, it plans to complete retooling work to prepare the facility for production of the 2026 model year of commercial electric vehicles.
When production resumes, the plant will operate on a single shift for the foreseeable future – a reduction expected to impact 450 workers.
Factory Zero also altering plans
The production changes come on the heels of partial shutdowns at electric vehicle manufacturing plant Factory Zero, in Detroit-Hamtramck.
Last week, GM told employees that the plant would partially shut down some first- and second-shift production starting after Labor Day and that it would resume Oct. 6. Meanwhile, the temporary layoff in place for second-shift production that GM announced in April was extended until Oct. 6. The move impacted production of the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Escalade IQ and approximately 360 employees were laid off.
The strategic adjustments at Spring Hill also include a temporary reduction in staffing levels, the memo also said.
About 700 employees will be laid off at Spring Hill, GM confirmed.
Spring Hill Vehicle Assembly and the battery operations on site expect to be running on first shift only from January to May 2026, per the memo. Impacted employees will be placed on layoff status and may be eligible for sub-pay and benefits in accordance with the National UAW/GM contract.
“We understand this is difficult news. At the same time, it's important to remember Spring Hill has a bright future ahead,” the memo said. “We've earned multiple product allocations, including the next-generation Cadillac XT5 and the gas-powered Chevrolet Blazer, thanks to your strong business performance, high engagement and track record for launch excellence.”
EV sales are strong but uncertain
EV sales soared in July and August as buyers tried to take advantage of up to $7,500 in federal tax credits before the Sept. 30 deadline.
Automakers preparing for a slowdown are starting to make production announcements now, according to Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at Telemetry.
“Given the situation with the tax credits going away at the end of the month, cars that would have been bought in the fourth quarter are being bought now,” he said. “Automakers are going to adjust their production in accordance with what they're selling.”
GM said Sept. 2 that sales of more than 21,000 EVs combined from Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC set an all-time record for the automaker.
Still, the company is bracing for an EV sales falloff, and Duncan Aldred, GM senior vice president and president of North America, said in a statement the company would be mindful of its EV production plans.
“We’re expecting strong demand once again in September. The question, of course, is what’s next? There’s no doubt we’ll see lower EV sales next quarter after tax credits end Sept. 30, and it may take several months for the market to normalize,” Aldred said. “We will almost certainly see a smaller EV market for a while, and we won’t overproduce.”
On Sept. 3, Ford Motor reported gains in August U.S. retail sales, driven in a large part by EV sales. It's unusual because EV sales had been muted, given that demand for them had not been as strong as the industry had predicted it would be a few years ago. A lagging charging infrastructure and high price tags for EVs had hampered sales just 12 months ago.
According to Kelley Blue Book, the average transaction price for a new EV across all brands for July was $55,689. By comparison, the average transaction price in July for a new car in general was $48,841.
Still, Ford reported its retail EV sales skyrocketed by 19% to a total of 10,671 sold in August. But for the first eight months of the year, Ford's EV sales are down 5.7% at 57,888 sold compared with the year-ago period.
Analysts said any EV sales gains are not sustainable this year. That is why GM is making adjustments to production now.
Karl Brauer, executive analyst with iseecars.com told the Free Press that the EV sales spike will continue through the end of September across all EV models, “followed by a whipsaw” in the other direction as EV sales evaporate in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a predictable pattern, one we see whenever large purchase incentives are removed from the marketplace,” Brauer said.
Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Reach her at jcharniga@freepress.com. Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM to pause Cadillac Lyriq and Vistiq output – Plant shifts halted amid slowdown
Reporting by Jackie Charniga and Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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