MARYSVILLE, Mich. (AP) -- Battered by rising oil prices and anxious creditors, Blue Water Automotive Systems Inc. says it could go under within 90 days.
The Marysville-based company, which makes plastic parts for auto assembly, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February. A $16 million bid to buy the auto supplier, made by Urbana, Ill.-based Flex-N-Gate Inc., collapsed Wednesday under objections by Blue Water's creditors.
Shutting down is the company's probable fate, James Sampson, Blue Water's president and chief executive officer, told the Times Herald of Port Huron for a story published Friday.
If that happens, 917 workers at the company's offices and plants in St. Clair County will lose their jobs, plus 500 employees at factories in Caro and Howell as well as in Leominster, Mass., Burlington, N.C., and Mexico City.
Sampson said it's still possible the company could be bought. He also said the supplier may contract, selling off some assets and keeping some workers.
"It is still our hope that the players involved can agree to allow us to remain in business," he said.
Blue Water took a one-two punch from rising prices for petroleum products. High gas prices have shaken the auto industry as a whole as Americans have begun abandoning large trucks and sport utility vehicles in favor of more fuel-efficient cars. And Blue Water's main manufacturing component is oil-derived resin, which also has spiked in cost.
