GM is building the Chevrolet Bolt at a plant in Orion Township, Michigan.
WASHINGTON – Two US senators from Ohio have asked Mary Bara, CEO of General Motors, to build all future electric vehicles for US buyers at home and give more details on plans to manufacture cars in North America to decrease.
The letter from Republican Senator Rob Portman and Democrat Sherrod Brown, who answered questions on 21 December, is the latest attempt by Congress and the White House to engage GM in its decision to halt production at four plants in the United States. and to delete thousands of jobs.
The senators also asked whether GM would produce additional EVs or switch to building EV SUVs and crossovers.
In the letter, GM is asked to reveal how many people will lose their jobs at its Ohio suppliers if GM closes its Lordstown Assembly plant and how much it will cost to close the plant. GM plans to discontinue American production of the Chevrolet Cruze, which was made in Lordstown.
It is unlikely that GM will build a new vehicle at Lordstown if it stops Cruze production in March, company representatives say, and GM managers have told Congress that it would take two years or more to develop and prepare the plant for the assembly of a new vehicle.
Barra said last week that she would hold an "open mind" about the future of the plant. The final decision will be taken during contract negotiations in 2019 with the United Auto Workers Union, she added.
On Friday, four members of the American parliament wrote to President Donald Trump who invited him to join them on visits to the closing factories and called him to intervene in every way possible to provide solutions for both short and long term for these employees. to search & # 39 ;.
GM, who holds a two-day board meeting this week, did not immediately comment on the letter. The company broke hundreds of contracts for contract product development in Michigan last week as part of the plan to cut about 8,000 paid jobs in North America by early 2019.
GM said in October 2017 that it would launch at least 20 new fully electric vehicles by 2023, but did not say where they will be produced. GM is building the EV Chevrolet Bolt at a plant in Michigan, but plans to end production of its plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt in Detroit next year.
GM builds the Buick Envision in China and exports it to the United States. The company asked the Trump administration in July to exempt the vehicle from a new US rate of 25 percent.
The White House is in favor of ending the tax benefit of $ 7500 EV. GM and Tesla Inc have lobbied in Congress to extend the credit for additional vehicles.