General Motors to Temporarily Shut Down CAMI Plant in Ontario Due to Slow Sales of BrightDrop Products, Resulting in Layoff of 1,200 Employees
The production of General Motors' (GM) BrightDrop electric delivery vans at the CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, has been temporarily halted since May 2025. The plant is expected to reopen in October 2025, following a retooling process to update the BrightDrop's interior design.
This production pause is primarily attributed to slow sales of the BrightDrop vans and the impact of U.S. tariffs, which have increased vehicle prices and disrupted supply chains. These factors have led to layoffs of around 500 employees at CAMI and the temporary shutdown of related supplier plants, such as the nearby London auto parts plant with nearly 50 job losses due to reduced demand for parts like seats used in BrightDrop vans.
In 2024, only 427 BrightDrop vans were sold in Canada, and 1,529 in the U.S., reflecting modest market uptake. GM acknowledges the need to support the EV transition despite these challenges, and the retooling at CAMI aims to improve the product as part of that effort.
GM's sales strategy primarily targets large commercial fleet buyers, bypassing smaller businesses that might be interested in EV delivery solutions. So far in 2025, only 274 units of BrightDrop vans have been sold, a modest increase from 256 a year earlier but far below the threshold needed to sustain multi-shift operations at CAMI.
The downtime at the CAMI plant will also be used to retool the plant for the 2026 model year of the BrightDrop lineup. It's worth noting that this is not a new occurrence, as the CAMI plant was previously shut down in 2023 due to a battery shortage.
The BrightDrop brand, launched in 2021 as a standalone EV subsidiary, was initially touted as a cornerstone of GM's electrification strategy. However, the current situation raises questions about the viability of GM's EV commercial vehicle strategy, particularly when compared to competitors like Ford and Rivian.
Despite the challenges, GM remains committed to the BrightDrop brand and the CAMI facility. The company is reportedly planning a limited single-shift restart in October 2025, which would mean continued layoffs but a gradual resumption of production.
The temporary halt in manufacturing at the CAMI Assembly Plant, initially due to slow sales and tariff-induced supply chain disruptions, has resulted in layoffs of around 500 employees and the closure of related industries, such as the London auto parts plant. To improve sales, GM aims to retool the BrightDrop's interior design and reposition their sales strategy, primarily focusing on large commercial fleet buyers rather than smaller businesses. Post-retooling, the plant will resume operations on a limited single-shift basis, with the intention to transition towards full production in the 2026 model year of the BrightDrop lineup.
