Marelli Automotive Lighting USA will close its Clarkston, Mich., factory, affecting 263 employees.
The closure is due to "a number of prolonged challenges" including downward-trending vehicle volumes "exacerbated by COVID-19" and new technology from nontraditional suppliers, Marelli said in a WARN notice filed July 27 with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.
The automotive supplier is not a part of a union, the notice said.
"As part of Marelli's ongoing strategy to strengthen its market position, we will consolidate our U.S.-based automotive lighting manufacturing in a single, existing location in Pulaski, Tenn.," it said. "This move will increase efficiency, enabling the company to become more cost-competitive while meeting customer demand."
Marelli did not immediately respond to request for comment by Plastics News.
In March, the supplier said it would consolidate three Detroit offices to a new North American headquarters in Southfield, Mich., after Fiat Chrysler Automobiles sold the parts unit Magneti Marelli, renamed Marelli, to Japan's Calsonic Kansei in a $6.5 billion deal last year.