According to foreign media reports, US auto parts supplier BorgWarner plans to close two factories in Detroit and cut 188 employees, who came from the electric vehicle battery business unit that the company acquired four years ago.
Two factories in Hazel Park and Warren will be closed, with job cuts starting April 14 and continuing until 7, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining notice submitted by BorgWarner to Michigan, where the factory is located. moon.
The two factories are part of BorgWarner’s business in the production of buses, commercial vehicles, train engines and marine vehicle battery packs. In 2021, after BorgWarner acquired Germany’s Akasol for US$880 million, the two factories were included in BorgWarner’s business scope.
A BorgWarner spokeswoman said the layoffs were due to the company’s transfer of battery production to a factory in South Carolina.
“BorgWarner actively manages its portfolio of businesses to enable it to achieve higher-than-market growth. We are confident in our battery products business and believe in the electric power industry as our customers engage in innovative With the increasing demand for mobility solutions, we have the opportunity to achieve sustained growth.”
BorgWarner was a staunch supporter of the early transformation of automobile electrification and had radically claimed to shift its business from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. However, the electrification transformation of the automotive industry is not as fast as expected, which has forced BorgWarner and other companies that have invested heavily in the electrification field to make some adjustments.
BorgWarner said last year that its plan was to save $100 million by cutting the number of employees and spending in the electric product division in the coming years, given weak market demand.
BorgWarner is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, near Detroit, ranked 21st in the 2024 Top 100 Auto Parts Suppliers in the Global Top 100 Auto Parts Suppliers released by U.S. Automotive News, with global sales to automakers in 2023 $14.2 billion.