GM cuts 500 jobs because of weak demand for BrightDrop electric vans

General Motors is laying off 500 workers at a factory in Canada because of weak demand for its all-electric BrightDrop vans, according to CNBC.

GM told CNBC that the cuts were not related to the ongoing trade war being waged by President Donald Trump. The company is cutting one of the two shifts at the CAMI plant in Ontario, and will idle the facility for 20 weeks beginning in May.

The cuts are the newest twist in BrightDrop’s short but somewhat tumultuous history. It created BrightDrop as a separate entity within GM in 2021, but absorbed it in 2023. In 2024 BrightDrop’s vans suffered a recall after a few battery fires. Later last year, GM moved BrightDrop under the Chevy brand.