This week, General Motors announced it will be closing five of its production plants in the northern U.S., including one in Ottawa, Canada. The timing of the closing of these plants, as well as the other changes GM is making to its car lineup, are all examples of corporate mismanagement and signify a company with only a vague sense of its future.

GM announced its closings, which come with the layoff of nearly 15,000 workers, on Monday. This announcement came as what many economists are suggesting to be the first signs of a slowing economy. While many also say that a recession does not seem likely in the future, it seems the unprecedented growth the American economy has seen in recent years may be slowing down again. Car sales have already shown a steady decline in the past year, so to say that GM could have prevented this or avoided the shutdowns is a bridge too far. However, GM could have taken care of this issue earlier and allowed for more time for the workers in the closing plants to adjust than they have.

For the plants to close now is a definite burden to the workers being laid off. At the start of winter, with heating, electric and gas bills being higher than usual, plus the added burden of travel and holiday shopping that come with the holiday season, the workers will suffer more now for the loss of their jobs than they may have with a spring or summer end date.

Then there is the issue of the vehicles of which GM will be cutting production. Most of the vehicles being cut are gas-powered cars, alongside the Chevrolet Volt, the company’s only electrically powered sedan. The company said it is shifting in the direction of electric vehicles, which is a generally smart idea in light of the current trends in automotive sales and environmental awareness. However, to cut the Volt says that the company has no short-term aim to hold even its marginal support of electric vehicles. Plus, it is cutting some of its more fuel-efficient options, like the Cruze which boasted a nearly 50 mpg for highway driving.

While gas prices are low, many people are opting to purchase larger, more inefficient options. That explains the company’s short-term option, but that is basically offering incentive for people to shift to more gas-hungry vehicles. That will make the shift to electric more difficult, as people will be used to larger cars with more power-intensive engines, and it is just plain bad for the environment.

GM would have been better suited to continue to offer its fuel-efficient options, update the Volt to remove its reliance on a gas-powered engine and then transform the Cruze, Impala and other small and midsize options into electric vehicles. That would help sell the cars seeing less interest in this cheap-fuel landscape to a new, electric-minded group, cement the brand as an electric leader, reinforce the image that electric cars are fundamentally the same as gas-powered cars and even save jobs.

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