ELMA, N.Y. (AP) - Continental Automotive Systems will close its suburban Buffalo plant by the end of 2009 and shift the work to Asia, eliminating about 380 jobs, the company said Thursday.
Spokesman Jim Gill cited the ''hyper competitive'' auto industry for the decision to phase out the 18-year-old Elma plant, which makes sensors for engine and transmission controls.
''The average selling price of those sensors has declined about 130 percent over the last three years,'' Gill said. ''That's a huge number.''
The work will likely be shifted to the Philippines, he said.
The closing is part of a four-part plan by Continental Automotive Systems, a division of German tire maker Continental AG. The plan also calls for the consolidation of telematics manufacturing in Nogales, Mexico from Seguin, Texas, and establishing the Texas facility as a North America center of manufacturing excellence, according to a press release from the company's Auburn Hills, Mich., headquarters.