GM Pauses Factory Zero, Indefinitely Laying Off Workers

Happy Thursday! It’s October 30, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you’ll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.

In this morning’s edition, we’re looking at GM’s Factory Zero pause, as well as BYD’s less-than-stellar third quarter. We’ll also look at the foreign content of cars imported under the USMCA agreement, and an NHTSA investigation into Honda. 

Factory Zero is the plant where General Motors is building its future; EVs and the Ultium platform on which they ride. In a totally good sign for that future, GM is idling that plant and laying off the workers who build cars there. From the Detroit Free Press:

General Motors has shut down Factory Zero until Nov. 24 as the Detroit automaker eases back on electric vehicle production. After a temporary return to work, about 1,200 workers will be placed on indefinite layoff, the company confirmed Oct. 29.

The Detroit-Hamtramck plant already had 280 employees on layoff after a series of production cuts this year. GM shut down first- and second-shift production temporarily beginning Sept. 2 and extended and adjusted those layoffs throughout the fall.

That layoff had been extended to the end of the year, but now, all shifts will be laid off until Nov. 24, which impacts 3,200 workers. After Nov. 24, about 3,200 people will return through Jan. 5 to operate both shifts and will be eligible for holiday pay. And after Jan. 5, about 1,200 workers are expected to remain on indefinite layoff.

GM’s use of “layoff” here really sounds more akin to a furlough, where workers could return later if demand changes. To the workers who aren’t putting food on the table, though, the difference is largely academic — either way, they’re not getting paid. To the rest of us, who will be inhaling Silverado exhaust rather than clean EV-filled air, it’s not great either. 

China signaled it was going to pull back from subsidizing its EV players as the market matures this week. Today, it turns out one of those players isn’t doing so hot. BYD, one of the most recognizable Chinese automakers outside of China, had a rough third quarter. From Bloomberg:

BYD Co. reported another slump in quarterly profit as intensifying domestic competition and industry scrutiny pile pressure on the Chinese carmaker’s sales outlook.

Third-quarter profit tumbled 33% from a year earlier to 7.82 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), the company said Thursday. BYD saw total revenue drop 3% to 194.98 billion yuan, missing estimates for 216 billion yuan.

The Shenzhen-based automaker delivered 1.15 million new energy vehicles, including pure-electric models and plug-in hybrids, in the period, down 1.8% from the third quarter of 2024. Rivals Geely Automobile Holdings and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. reported increases in third-quarter sales of 96% and 84%, respectively.

BYD’s business is obviously more diversified than just EVs, but those make up a nontrivial amount of the company’s income. What happens to BYD when it’s hit by a one-two punch of disappearing subsidies and a global financial meltdown?

Donald Trump loves instituting tariffs on the United States’ trading partners, including the countries with which he just made a shiny new trade deal last time he was in office. The latest auto tariff laws have vehicles from Mexico and Canada taxed based on how much of their makeup comes from outside North America, which has turned out to be a pretty considerable percentage. From Automotive News:

An analysis of tariffs levied on vehicles imported to the U.S. from Canada and Mexico suggests that they have a high level of non-U.S. content that keeps them from claiming a significant tariff discount.

Finished passenger cars from Canada and Mexico were tariffed at a rate of 19 percent in July, according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce analyzed by T.D. Cowen.

Since importers are paying a 25 percent Section 232 tariff on non-U.S. content for vehicles compliant with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the data indicates that automakers are reporting that much of the content of those imported vehicles is not made in America.

Canada and Mexico thought they had a way to maintain their auto manufacturing businesses under the USMCA agreement, but now it seems like their factories still use too many imported parts to get off tax-free. Surely this is good for all parties. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is turning an eye towards Honda, looking into 583,600 Pilots and Odysseys for a pair of issues. The Pilots have an issue with the rear seatbelt warning system, and the Odysseys can set off their side airbags at random. Out of the two, I’d rather have a Pilot right now. From Automotive News:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched separate investigations into about 583,600 Honda Motor Co. vehicles over potential defects involving rear seat belt warnings and inadvertent airbag deployments.

The regulator is examining 142,600 2023-24 Honda Pilot midsize crossovers for a possible malfunction in the rear seat belt warning system, which may incorrectly alert drivers about passenger seat belt usage.

A second probe covers 441,000 2018-22 Honda Odyssey minivans, following complaints that side airbags deployed unexpectedly while the vehicle was in motion, including incidents involving potholes.

“Inadvertent deployment of airbags while a vehicle is in motion can lead to injury or driver distraction, which may result in a collision,” NHTSA said.

Have you ever been hit by an airbag? “Driver distraction” would not be my first concern. Those things hit hard, and it’s not a fun experience. 

Got any plans for Halloween? I always put way too much work into my costume every year, and then only figure out somewhere to wear it at the last minute. 

I love when women cover songs. Big fan of taking a song and improving the vocals by having a woman do them.