The Big Three get big subsidies but still do big layoffs
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Georgia, discusses his bill that would ban President Biden from mandating electric vehicles on 'The Bottom Line.'
The ink is barely dry on the Big Three automakers’ generous new union contracts, but it’s already clear that the companies are in financial trouble.
In recent weeks, General Motors and Stellantis have announced layoffs, while Ford has scaled back hiring plans at a forthcoming battery factory. The threat of more job losses will likely spur politicians to throw money at the companies, but taxpayers deserve to know that job losses will likely continue no matter what promises the companies and politicians make.
Taxpayer subsidies for the Big Three are all but guaranteed. In August, before the United Auto Workers strike, the Biden administration announced $15.5 billion in funding and loans to help car manufacturers redesign their factories for electric vehicle production.
The Stellantis sign is seen outside the Chrysler Technology Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Jan. 19, 2021. (Carlos Osorio, File / AP Images)
The administration says the giveaways will «expand and retain high-paying auto manufacturing jobs,» and the Big Three will likely get the lion’s share of the cash. Yet painful experience shows that layoffs still happen even after the companies pocket the money.
GM, FORD ANNOUNCE SEVERAL CAR MODELS WILL LOSE ELECTRIC VEHICLE TAX CREDIT IN 2024
Consider General Motors, which announced on Dec. 14 that more than 1,300 Michigan factory workers will be let go in January. The layoffs are mostly at GM’s Orion Assembly plant; the announcement follows an October decision to delay production of two electric pickup trucks.
Yet in January 2022, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a $120
Read more on foxbusiness.com
