Plastech bankruptcy temporarily idles Chrysler plants

Automaker Chrysler LLC temporarily closed four assembly plants and shut down one shift at another, all in the U.S., due to the bankruptcy filing of injection molder Plastech Engineered Products Inc.

Dearborn, Mich.-based Plastech filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit last week.

About 10,500 Chrysler employees will be affected by the plant closures and shift shutdown, spokesman Kevin Frazier said. According to Chrysler, the plants affected are in Sterling Heights, Mich.; Newark, Del.; Toledo, Ohio, and the Belvidere plant in Rockford, Ill. Also, the second shift at Toledo Supplier Park in Toledo will be dismissed, the automaker said.

Plastech has 36 facilities and 7,600 employees in the Canada and the U.S., including a plant in Leamington, Ont., which employs about 375 people.The company makes engine covers, grill panels, moldings, metal stampings, door panels, floor consoles and safety restraint system components for Chrysler, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Co.