Ottawa, Ontario — In this weekly Tuesday Ticker, BMO financial group announces plans to shutter its auto retail finance business, while General Motors halts BrightDrop production amid battery module delays.
BMO and mobility
BMO Financial Group will close its indirect retail auto finance business to reroute the operation’s resources, the company announced Monday.
The move will spur an unknown number of layoffs in Canada and the U.S., the Bank of Montreal said.
The company’s bad debt provisions tripled to $492 million in Q2 2023 compared to last year. In its retail line, the bank’s provisions for credit losses rose a whopping 800 percent to $81 million last quarter—up from $9 million the year before.
BMO’s indirect retail auto loans segment works with car dealerships to arrange financing for car buyers.
BrightDropped
General Motors will delay production of its BrightDrop electric vans until spring 2024 amid battery module delays.
Workers at the Ingersoll, Ont. CAMI plant will go on layoff in October with plans to return to work sometime next spring.
The delays come less than a year after GM retooled the facility for electric vehicle battery system production.
