Crain’s Detroit Business

Automotive supplier BorgWarner is planning to close two plants in metro Detroit and lay off 188 workers from the electric vehicle battery business it acquired four years ago.

Factories in Hazel Park and Warren will be closed and layoffs will begin April 14 and run through July, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice issued to the state. Employees are not represented by a union.

The plants were part of BorgWarner’s battery pack manufacturing business for buses, commercial vehicles, train engines and marine vehicles. It came under the supplier’s portfolio in its $880 million acquisition of Germany’s Akasol in 2021.

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A BorgWarner spokeswoman said the layoffs are the result of shifting its battery production to a plant in South Carolina.

“BorgWarner actively manages our portfolio to position it to grow above market,” the company said in a statement. “We believe in our battery product portfolio and the opportunity for continued growth as customers increasingly require innovative eMobility solutions.”

Click here for the 2024 Automotive News list of the top 100 global auto suppliers

BorgWarner was an early and ardent believer in electrification, making bold proclamations about shifting its business from the internal combustion engine to EVs. The industry’s transformation has not progressed as quickly as predicted, and that’s led to some backtracking by BorgWarner and others who invested heavily in electrification.

The supplier said last year it aimed to save $100 million over the next couple of years by cutting head count and spending for its e-products division in response to weak market demand.

BorgWarner, near Detroit in Auburn Hills, Mich., ranks No. 21 on the Automotive News’ list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide sales to automakers of $14.2 billion in 2023.