WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — In a massive restructuring, US auto giant General Motors (GM)announced yesterday it will cut 15 per cent of its workforce to save $6 billion and adapt to “changing market conditions.”

The moves include shuttering seven plants worldwide as the company responds to changing customer preferences and focuses on popular trucks and SUVs and increasingly on electric models. Wall Street cheered the actions, while US and Canadian leaders expressed outrage.

The closures also drew sharp criticism from the US and Canadian labour union representing GM workers, which accused the company of shifting production overseas at the expense of North American workers.

The job cuts from GM’s current 180,000-strong workforce will be particularly stinging in politically crucial areas of Ohio and Michigan, a region US President Donald Trump has promised to revive.

“The actions we are taking today continue our transformation to be highly agile, resilient and profitable, while giving us the flexibility to invest in the future,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in a statement.

“We recognise the need to stay in front of changing market conditions and customer preferences to position our company for long-term success.”

Trump expressed dismay at the plan and said he was “very tough” with Barra when they discussed the reorganisation.

“I spoke with her when I heard they were closing and I said, ‘You know, this country has done a lot for General Motors. You better get back in there soon,’” he told reporters at the White House. “They better put something else in.”

Barra also met at the White House with Trump’s senior economic adviser Larry Kudlow, in what officials said was a previously scheduled meeting.

Trump’s aggressive trade policies have been aimed specifically at saving US manufacturing jobs, including the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement which took aim at rules governing auto trade to favour the US industry.

Despite that, GM will shutter three North American auto assembly plants next year: the Oshawa plant in Ontario, Canada; Hamtramck in Detroit, Michigan, and Lordstown in Warren, Ohio.

In addition, GM will close two US propulsion plants — which produce batteries and transmissions — in Baltimore, Maryland and Warren, Michigan, as well two unidentified plants outside of North America. The company already had announced plans to cease operations at its Gunsan, Korea plant.

DEEP DISAPPOINTMENT

Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, lambasted GM’s move as “corporate greed at its worst” and also took a swipe at the 2017 tax cut favoured by Trump and congressional Republicans that boosted GM’s profits and had been touted as a jobs winner.

“The company reaped a massive tax break from last year’s GOP tax bill and failed to invest that money in American jobs,” Brown said on Twitter.

In Canada, Prime Minster Justin Trudeau expressed “deep disappointment” with the plant closure.

Workers at the Ontario plant staged a wildcat strike yesterday to protest the closure.

The job cuts will include a 25 per cent reduction in executive-level employees to “streamline decision making,” the company said.

According to reports, the five North American plants concerned employ nearly 7,000, including 3,000 workers in the Ontario company.

GM shares jumped after the announcement, closing up 4.8 per cent on the day. Analysts were generally upbeat about the news.

“In contrast to times past, General Motors under CEO Mary Barra is trying to get ahead of a potential crisis by making cuts now,” Michelle Krebs of Autotrader said in a client note.

While GM has been increasing its focus on highly popular trucks and SUVs, the company said in a statement it would also prioritise investment in “next-generation battery-electric architectures”.

In an investor call, Barra said some GM cars would no longer be available in North America.