Dive Brief:
- GKN Automotive plans to shutter its manufacturing facility in Timberlake, North Carolina, by year’s end, according to a March 8 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act letter to the state.
- While some of the workers will be offered to transfer to a nearby facility in Alamance, North Carolina, the auto parts maker expects to lay off at least 247 employees.
- The first round of layoffs is expected to begin May 19 and finish by Nov. 30.
Dive Insight:
The site’s closure, operating as GKN Driveline North America, is part of the company’s reorganization plan for its manufacturing operations, according to the WARN Act letter.
GKN Automotive did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
GKN Automotive’s former parent company, Melrose Industries, formed a new public company dubbed Dowlais. Melrose completed its demerger in April 2023, spinning off GKN Automotive, GKN Powder Metallurgy and GKN Hydrogen under Dowlais, while GKN Aerospace remains under Melrose Industries. Dowlais is independent from Melrose.
“We have a clear strategy to create value for our stakeholders by: delivering industry leading financial performance; facilitating the world’s transition to electric vehicles through a portfolio of cutting-edge products; and accelerating growth through a disciplined M&A strategy,” Dowlais CEO Liam Butterworth said in an April 2023 press release.
The Timberlake facility is the second North Carolina site GKN Automotive closed in the past year. The auto parts maker closed its facility in Sanford in March of last year, according to a WARN Act post.
