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Lear To Shut Down Tampa Manufacturing Plant

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By MICHAEL SASSO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 10, 2008

TAMPA - Lear Corp., a major U.S. auto parts maker, will shut its Tampa manufacturing plant by September 2009, a move that will eliminate 325 jobs.

Southfield, Mich.-based Lear told its Tampa employees Monday that it will begin scaling back the plant's operations in March and shut it completely by September, said company Director of Corporate Communications Andrea Puchalsky.

Lear employs 249 hourly employees and 76 salaried employees at the plant, which makes electrical components for automobile interiors, she said.

Puchalsky had no immediate information on whether employees would be offered severance packages or offered jobs in other Lear facilities. The company is shutting a similar plant in Zanesville, Ohio, and reducing a seat manufacturing shift in Indiana, she said.

Overall, Lear operates 215 facilities around the world and employs 91,000 people. In 2005, it started a major restructuring process that included job cuts. The restructuring was to have been completed by now, but a big slowdown in the automotive industry has forced Lear to continue restructuring, Puchalsky said.

According to its latest financial report, Lear's profit for the quarter ended June 28 was $18.3 million, down from $123.6 million in the same quarter of 2007.

Sales fell to $3.98 billion from $4.16 billion over the year.

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at (813) 259-7865 or msasso@tampatrib.com.

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