GM to shut Oshawa line, shed 2,000 jobs

According to the Toronto Sun, General Motors will be shutting down one of the lines at its Oshawa, Ontario plant, putting 2,000 workers out of a job. As of yet, no official notice has been given to the employees or the Canadian Auto Workers union that represents them, though an official announcement is reportedly coming within the next couple of days.

GM will be closing the line that currently builds the Chevrolet Equinox and outgoing Impala models. Recently, we reported that the automaker would be adding Equinox production to its Spring Hill, Tennessee facility, but this news of a line closure in Oshawa likely means that GM's compact crossover will now be built exclusively in the United States. The 2014 Impala will move to GM's flexible line in Oshawa, where it will be built alongside the Buick Regal, Chevrolet Camaro and Cadillac XTS. The Impala will also be built at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck facility, which is currently responsible for the Chevrolet Malibu and Volt.

Another report from The Globe and Mail suggests that a third shift could be added to the flex line when production of the Impala and XTS fire up. If that's the case, employment on this line would rise from about 2,000 to 2,500 workers, and the laid-off employees from the consolidated line would have first crack at these jobs.