President Trump has blasted General Motors’ plans to lay off 14,700 factory and white-collar workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure.

“I’m not happy with what she did,” he commented about chief executive Mary Barra, the auto maker’s chief executive. He told the Wall St Journal that he had told Barra that she should stop making cars in China, and open a new plant in Ohio instead.

“They better damn well open a new plant there very quickly,” Trump told the Journal.

GM says reduction includes 8100 white-collar workers, some of whom will take buyouts and others who will be laid off. The reductions could amount to as much as 8 per cent of GM’s global workforce of 180,000 employees.

Later, speaking to a crowd in Mississippi, President Trump dismissed the impact of GM’s move.

“For years you watched as powerful forces in Washington shipped away your jobs. You saw that,” he said. “You saw that. That’s changing. You see what’s coming in. So many companies coming in to Mississippi. And everyplace else, by the way.”

Most of the affected factories build cars that won’t be sold in the US after next year. They could close or they could get different vehicles to build.

The company also said it will stop operating two additional factories outside North America by the end of next year, in addition to a previously announced plant closure in Gunsan, South Korea.

Plants without products include assembly plants in Detroit; Lordstown, Ohio; and Oshawa, Ontario. Also affected are transmission factories in Warren, Michigan, as well as Baltimore.

About 6000 factory workers could lose jobs in the US and Canada, although some could transfer to truck plants.

SHARP TURN AHEAD
Australia is unlikely to be affected, says motoring commentator Richard Blackburn. “All the vehicles imported from the US are SUVs and utes, so they are safe, Commodore and Astra are made by Opel, which is now owned by Peugeot-Citroen, so any decision to halt production would be made by Peugeot,” he says. “Holden/GM could choose to stop taking the Commodore and Astra, but I think that’s unlikely at this stage.

“The bigger story is that we could be witnessing the death of the passenger car as we know it in some parts of the world. Ford has cancelled production of some sedans and hatches in the US, while over here Mitsubishi and Nissan have let their car business slide.”

Manufacturers continue to shift away from cars toward SUVs and trucks, reflecting changing North American auto markets. In October, almost 65 per cent of new vehicles sold in the US were trucks or SUVs. That figure was about 50 per cent cars just five years ago.

GM is shedding cars largely because it doesn’t make money on them, Citi analyst Itay Michaeli wrote in a note to investors.

“We estimate sedans operate at a significant loss, hence the need for classic restructuring,” he wrote.

GM isn’t the first to abandon much of its car market. Fiat Chrysler cars got out of small and midsize cars two years ago, while Ford announced plans to shed all cars but the Mustang sports car in the US in the coming years.

“Ford announced in April it would not invest in another generation of sedans in the US,” Blackburn says. “It says that by 2020, 90 per cent of its portfolio in the US will be trucks, SUVs and commercial vehicles.”

Shares of GM, the largest automaker in the U.S. which sells the Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC brands, rose nearly 6 per cent on the news to $37.98.

‘JUST THE BEGINNING’
A person briefed on the matter told The Associated Press that the plant being shuttered in Canada was just the beginning as GM prepares for the next economic downturn, shifting trade agreements under the Trump administration, and potential tariffs on imported cars.

This past autumn, the Detroit automaker offered buyouts to 18,000 white collar workers, but it has yet to say how many accepted, or if it’s close to meeting the staff reduction goals it set to better withstand leaner times.

The salaried reductions amount to 15 per cent of GM’s North American workforce out of 54,000. At the factories, 3000 workers could lose jobs in Canada and another 3600 in the US.

Some US workers would transfer to truck and SUV plants where GM is increasing output, the company said.

The company said the moves will save $6 billion ($A8.3 billion) in cash by the end of next year, including $4.5b ($A6.2b) in recurring annual cost reductions and a $1.5b ($A2.1b) reduction in capital spending. Those cuts are in addition to $6.5b ($A9b) that the company has announced by the end of this year.

THE TOUGH GET GOING …
GM doesn’t foresee an economic downturn and is making the cuts “to get in front of it while the company is strong and while the economy is strong,” chief executive Mary Barra told reporters.

Ms Barra said GM is still hiring people with expertise in software and electric and autonomous vehicles, and many of those who will lose their jobs are now working on conventional cars with internal combustion engines.

Barra said the industry is changing rapidly and moving toward electric propulsion, autonomous vehicles and ride-sharing, and GM must adjust with it.

In response to the restructuring news, General Motors stock jumped 5.6 per cent.

General Motors Co.’s pre-emptive strike to get leaner before the next downturn likely will be followed by Ford Motor Co., which has said it is restructuring and will lay off an unspecified number of white-collar workers. Toyota Motor Corp. also has discussed cutting costs, even though it’s building a new assembly plant in Alabama.