GM Idles Orion Plant As Chevrolet Sonic Demand Dwindles

General Motors is idling production at its Orion Assembly Plant for a week longer than initially planned in an effort to cut stock levels of the poor-selling Chevrolet Sonic.

The U.S. automaker halted production at the facility at the start of the month for two weeks as part of a summer shutdown period. However, the decision was made to extend the shutdown for an additional week this month as it looks for any way to reduce its inventory of cars which sat at 127 days at the end of June.

What’s more, GM will again idle production at the Orion Assembly Plant for the last week of August and intends on slowing the combined assembly line for the Sonic and Bolt at the factory in September.

Since the start of the year, the carmaker has cut shifts at four of its assembly plants in the U.S. to reduce inventory numbers which are almost double what’s considered optimal.

According to Autodata Corp, inventory levels of the Chevrolet Sonic have been decreased significantly since the end of May, dropping from 159 days down to 43 days. Despite this small win for the company, Sonic sales in the first half of 2017 were down 36.5 per cent from the same period in 2016.

Speaking to The Detroit News, GM spokesman Jim Cain said the firm was simply anticipating the continued shift away from small cars.

“You have to anticipate where the market is going. The second half of the year sees a major shift toward SUVs and pickups. Passenger cars become a smaller part of the industry,” he said.