Forvia cuts metals department in Highland Park, lays off 268

Automotive supplier Forvia is closing its metals department in Highland Park and laying off 268 employees, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification to the state.

The company is moving the production to another facility, which wasn't identified in a statement from spokeswoman Misty Matthews. Waymon Halty, vice president of United Auto Workers Local 155 in Warren that represents the Highland Park workers, told Crain's Detroit the metal framing operations at the seating plant that supplies Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUVs from Stellantis NV's Jeep team are going to a plant in Mexico. The Detroit News left messages with the local union's leadership.

The company expects the cuts at the plant at 13000 Oakland Park Blvd. to be complete by Jan. 31, Cortney Scott, human resources manager, wrote in the letter to the state.

The move was "to meet our manufacturing and production needs," Matthews said.

"Changes like these help us effectively and efficiently leverage our manufacturing footprint, better service our customers and leverage utilization to meet our production requirements."

The company is working with employees to identify open positions into which they may be able to transition.

The layoffs come after Stellantis temporarily cut the third shift at its Warren Truck Assembly Plant that produces the Wagoneers as well as the Ram 1500 Classic pickup truck. The company is working to improve quality in the plant and ramp up production of the long-wheelbase models of the Wagoneers denoted with an "L."

Forvia — meant to be a combination of "forward" and "via" — is the new name of Faurecia SE after acquiring Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. The French company's North American headquarters is in Auburn Hills. It has more than 114,000 employees and operates more than 300 plants and research and development centers worldwide, including four in Michigan and 18 in Mexico, according to its website.

bnoble@detroitnews.comTwitter: @BreanaCNoble