USA: strike cost at GM reaches $ 1 billion (analysts)

New York (AFP)

The unprecedented strike at General Motors (GM) in the United States has already cost the automaker at least $ 1 billion, analysts said.

This social movement, the first since 2007, led to the shutdown of car production in US factories and disrupted group sites in Canada and Mexico.

The Detroit giant produced about 2 million vehicles in the United States last year, or 38,500 a week, calculate JPMorgan Chase analysts in a note.

When we add production from Canada and Mexico, it's a total of 3 million vehicles that GM produced in North America, at a rate of 57,500 per week.

As a result, the stoppage of production since September 16 due to the strike cost the group about $ 480 million in the first week and $ 575 million for the second, evaluates JPMorgan Chase.

The experts of RBC Capital Markets estimate, they, the shortfall between 75 and 100 million dollars per day for the car manufacturer, which represents between 1 and 1.4 billion dollars.

GM could recover a portion of the losses, however, by transferring part of the expected production during the strike weeks in the fourth quarter, ahead of JPMorgan Chase.

It would be difficult, however, to intensify the pace of production for its large pickups, whose demand is high, because of limited capacity, explains the bank.

In addition, GM and the powerful UAW union have still not reached agreement.

Negotiations between the two sides are continuing, AFR spokesman Brian Rothenberg told AFP on Tuesday, refusing to comment on the possibility of a compromise by the end of the week.

GM has postponed to Wednesday the publication of the figures of its car sales for the third quarter initially scheduled on Tuesday.

Nearly 50,000 US GM workers are on strike to demand wage increases and improved conditions for employees hired after the bankruptcy group's 2009 historic bailout by the Obama administration.

The UAW also wants the Detroit giant to reactivate four plants shut down in November 2018, including one in the industrial state of Ohio, affected by relocations.

© 2019 AFP