General Motors to furlough workers in Brazil plant for 20 days

General Motors said on Friday it would furlough all workers at one of its Brazil plants for 20 days in March due to maintenance and updating of factory lines, resulting in a suspension in production.

The plant located in Gravatai in the state of Rio Grande do Sul produces the Chevrolet Onix compact car, which has been Brazil’s best-selling car for some years in a row.

Edson Rosso, a union representative in Gravatai, said the automaker will furlough some workers for more than 20 days.

He said that while the automaker will resume production on March 20, some workers will face up to five months in furloughs as a way to deal with the speed of production in light of a parts shortage that has disrupted auto output worldwide.

GM did not directly discuss the additional furloughs but said its supply chain in South America had been disrupted during the coronavirus crisis.

“This has the potential to affect our production schedule in a temporary and partial way,” the automaker said.