Following GM’s announcement in May this year that it will halt production of the Chevrolet Malibu at the end of 2024, the company has formally notified the state that it will lay off nearly 1,700 workers from the longtime mainstay of the KCK economy.

The layoffs are expected to be temporary, starting in December and running until the plant is retooled to produce the Chevrolet Bolt, the automaker’s sub-compact all-electric model. Production is expected to resume in mid-2025. Workers receive 75 percent of their salary during the layoff.

Chevrolet briefly discontinued the Bolt mark, but is bringing it back for the 2026 model year, in the “electric utility vehicle” (EUV) configuration, rather than the hatchback of previous years. Chevy claims that the new Bolt will charge faster, one of the disadvantages of the car versus competitors.