General Motors plans to lay off 1,750 workers indefinitely in the coming months and an additional 1,670 temporarily as it reduces electric vehicle production, the automaker said on Wednesday.
The layoffs are a response to an expected drop in sales of electric cars and trucks after Congress and President Trump ended, on Sept. 30, a $7,500 federal tax credit for the purchase and lease of new electric vehicles.
“In response to slower near-term E.V. adoption and an evolving regulatory environment, General Motors is realigning E.V. capacity,” the company said in a statement. “Despite these changes, G.M. remains committed to our U.S. manufacturing footprint.”
The job cuts will hit vehicle and battery factories in Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.
One plant, in Detroit, known as Factory Zero, has been idled and will remain closed until Jan. 5. When it reopens, it will operate with one shift instead of two, leaving 1,200 people out of work indefinitely.
In addition, a joint venture with LG Energy Solution, Ultium Cells, will idle battery factories in Warren, Ohio, and Spring Hill, Tenn., on Jan. 5, G.M. said. Those plants are expected to remain closed until the middle of next year.
As a result, 550 workers in Ohio will be laid off indefinitely and 850 will lose their jobs temporarily. In Tennessee, 700 people will be laid off temporarily, G.M. said. Other temporary layoffs, totaling 120 jobs, will affect a stamping plant and a components plant, both in Michigan.
Earlier this month, G.M. laid off 200 salaried workers at its technical center in Warren, Mich., and closed an information technology center in Georgia, eliminating about 300 jobs.
Demand for E.V.s had been slowing for a while but is widely expected to fall sharply for at least the next few months. G.M. recently took a special charge of $1.6 billion to reflect the decline in the value of its electric vehicle plants and to cover the cost of laying off workers and canceling supplier contracts.
Other automakers are taking similar steps. Rivian, a maker of electric pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and delivery vans, said last week that it was laying off 600 workers. And Volkswagen plans to temporarily halt production of the ID.4 electric S.U.V. this month at a factory in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Neal E. Boudette is based in Michigan and has been covering the auto industry for two decades. He joined The New York Times in 2016 after more than 15 years at The Wall Street Journal.
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