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SOUTHFIELD, MI-Another Detroit area auto supplier says it is being forced to close some plants and restructure its operations because of weak financial performance. Locally based automotive interiors manufacturer Lear Corp. says it might cut up to 7,700 jobs globally. It also says it would be closing some North American manufacturing plants and moving that work to countries where costs are cheaper.
Lear did not say which of its US plants could potentially close. The company will release second quarter earnings on July 29 and promised more details then. The company did say "five North American or European" facilities would be shut down and the work moved to cheaper locations.
"It's still a strategy, a plan, at this point," a company spokesman says. "We have 300 facilities around the world, and it's kind of like a dominos game. If you decide to change one thing, others have to change too."
Standard and Poor's has placed the company on a credit watch. Lear employs about 110,000 people in 34 countries. It had $17 billion in sales in 2004. "We are implementing this restructuring plan to improve our overall competitive position in light of extremely challenging industry conditions," chairman and chief executive Bob Rossiter says.
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