Auto Supplier Faurecia To Lay Off Workers, Close 2 Detroit Area Plants

STERLING HEIGHTS (WWJ) - French auto supplier Faurecia will lay off 348 workers and shut down two metro Detroit facilities as a result of Fiat Chrysler discontinuing production of its Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart models.

The Merrill Road plant in Sterling Heights and its Masonic Road plant in Fraser will be closed as a result of the changes.

WWJ Auto Beat Reporter Jeff Gilbert says Faurecia's plants on Sims Road in Sterling Heights and on 14 Mile Road in Fraser will remain open.

The layoffs will go into effect at the end of the year.

The company — which had been had been expanding recently —  makes automotive seats, interior systems and emissions control tech for FCA, Ford, General Motors, BMW, Hyundai, Nissan and Volkswagen.

This follows 122 job layoffs by auto supplier Martinrea in August. At that time Martinrea International announced it would shot down a Detroit plant that had also supported production of the Dart and 300.

Meantime, the 1,300 workers at Fiat Chrysler's Sterling Heights plant are on layoff while the plant is converted to pickup truck production. However, Gilbert reports, that plant will likely hire even more workers when it reopens in about a year.