Dana Corp., a manufacturer of engine components, announced Thursday four of the eight facilities it plans to close during the next two years.
According to a statement released by Dana, the plant closings will consolidate production and take advantage of lower-cost manufacturing locations. Dana announced preliminary plans to close eight facilities last month.
The Syracuse, Ind. plant, which employs approximately 65 people, will be closed by September of 2007. Manufacturing from Syracuse will move to Mexico. The Cape Girardeau, Mo., plant, which employs 25 people, will close by June of 2008 and those jobs will move to Mexico as well.
Manufacturing at the Guelph, Ontario, Canada coincides with the completion of a customer program that was wholly supported by this location. Approximately 25 workers are employed at this location.
The Thorold, Ontario, Canada location will close by June of 2007 and move its manufacturing to the company’s Kentucky location.
Dana Chairman and CEO Mike Burns said, "The decision to close any facility is extremely difficult and regrettable. But to become competitive and emerge from Chapter 11 as a viable company, it is absolutely critical that we further consolidate work across our facilities to reduce overcapacity and high operating costs."
Burns said that four additional facility closures are expected to be finalized in 2007.
Dana expects to incur charges of approximately $26 million before tax during the fourth quarter of 2006 and additional aggregate charges of approximately $19 million in 2007-2009 for total charges of $45 million before tax, in connection with the plant closures announced today.