GM has just lately minimize a shift at its Ramos Arizpe manufacturing plant in Mexico, the place the Chevy Equinox EV and Honda Prologue are produced. This resolution is attributed to Honda’s alternative to scale back Prologue output. Regardless of a surge in gross sales of its solely electrical SUV within the U.S., Honda is scaling again manufacturing.
The plant, which had simply added a 3rd shift in Could 2024, will revert to a two-shift schedule beginning January 20. Initially, it was speculated that this transformation was because of the expiration of the Prologue manufacturing contract. Nevertheless, GM clarified that it was Honda’s resolution to lower manufacturing that prompted the shift discount.
In an announcement, GM famous, “This modification is especially because of our buyer Honda’s technique of decreasing the manufacturing quantity of the Prologue mannequin.” The additional shift had been established in response to elevated export demand for gasoline engines and Ultium-based EVs just like the Chevy Equinox and Blazer EVs, alongside the Prologue. Nevertheless, with the drop in Prologue EV manufacturing, the necessity for the extra shift has diminished. This shift discount will end in roughly 800 job losses on the plant, in line with Mexico Enterprise Information.
GM additionally urged that the updates stemmed from an “adjustment within the mixture of manufacturing of GM automobiles on the website,” indicating that it wasn’t solely the Prologue’s state of affairs that led to the shift change. The Ramos Arizpe plant additionally produces gasoline-powered Chevy Blazers.
Although Honda has in a roundabout way confirmed these modifications, a spokesperson remarked, “It’s fairly regular for our enterprise to make manufacturing changes through the yr as a way to meet buyer wants and market situations. We’ll proceed to rigorously handle manufacturing and stock for our whole product lineup to fulfill anticipated demand in 2025.”
After the preliminary fashions rolled out in March, the Prologue emerged as one of many top-selling EVs within the U.S. in 2024, with over 33,000 items offered, rating because the seventh best-selling electrical car, forward of the Chevy Equinox EV which offered 28,874 items.
Provided that the Prologue is among the many main electrical automobiles, the rationale behind Honda’s resolution to curb manufacturing is perplexing. The corporate plans to shift away from GM’s Ultium platform with its upcoming 0 Sequence EVs, although this might not be the reason for the present changes.
Within the earlier month, the Prologue continued to carry out effectively available in the market, promoting 3,744 items, thereby surpassing gross sales figures for Ford’s Mustang Mach-E (3,529), Hyundai IONIQ 5 (2,250), and Kia EV6 (1,542). The timing of this manufacturing slowdown raises questions. Because the state of affairs develops, extra info will seemingly come to mild. Keep tuned for updates.
Source link
