Commercial Vehicle Group closing Norwalk, Ohio plant; 120 employees affected

Commercial Vehicle Group closing Ohio plant

NEW ALBANY, Ohio — Heavy truck company Commercial Vehicle Group Inc. said Thursday it will close its Norwalk, Ohio, truck cab assembly plant, affecting roughly 120 employees.

The decision was made after customer Navistar decided to bring the cab assembly operations performed at Norwalk in-house to its existing assembly facility in Escobedo, Mexico.

The Norwalk plant is expected to continue assembly operations for Navistar products through April.

“Based on the decision to manufacture the cab, Navistar has decided not to renew its existing contract with CVG for cab assembly. We know this is a difficult outcome for CVG, as they have been a valued supplier since 2002,” Navistar Chief Procurement Officer Persio Lisboa said in a statement. “Navistar intends to work closely with CVG throughout this transition period while looking at additional business opportunities going forward.”

Commercial Vehicle estimates this decision will cut its 2010 revenue by about $10 million to $15 million.

“We are committed to ensuring that we neutralize the bottom line impact to CVG,” said Commercial Vehicle President and CEO Mervin Dunn in a statement. “We intend to do this through additional business awards as well as additional cost cutting measures.”

Shares fell 16 cents to close earlier at $5.80.