Auto parts supplier Delphi Corp. said Feb. 22 it was closing a factory in Spain with the loss of 1,600 jobs. In Spain, a representative of the General Union of Workers at the Puerto Real plant in the southern city of Cadiz said that union officials had been informed earlier in the day.
The company said the Puerto Real plant has racked up operating losses of $197 million over the past five years, and it could not see "any business justification" to keeping the plant open. Delphi also said it had identified the products made at the plant -- steering, suspension and bearings -- as "non-core" lines to its future make-up.
"Faced by this situation of lack of alternatives to the plant closure, the company has set in motion today the necessary procedures to close the plant," it said in a statement.
Delphi, which was spun off from General Motors in 1999 but remains the automaker's biggest parts supplier, is struggling to overhaul its operations and escape from bankruptcy protection. It posted a net loss of $4.6 billion during the first nine months of 2006. This included $2.9 billion in charges related to special attrition programs for U.S. employees.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
