Auto industry woes hurting Georgia - Birmingham Business Journal:

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Though Atlanta no longer has manufacturing plantsfor Detroit’ s Big Three, dealers and parts manufacturerds that support the wounded giants are feelinvg the effects of idled auto plants and a glut of unsoled cars on dealer lots. The pain may not be as severe as in otheer parts ofthe nation, but Georgia has had On May 11, , an Atlanta-based tier-two supplier to Generakl Motors and , filed for Chapter 11 bankruptct protection. Sanderson, the 89th-largest African-American-owned company in the according to BlackEnterprise magazine, saw its revenude plummet during the first four months of according to its Chapter 11 filing.
Sanderson Industries CEO Rory Sandersohn did not immediately return messagesseekingf comment. Other automotive suppliers with operations in Georgiqa have takena hit. Ohio-based ETN), which has a plant near Athens that makes superchargers for new cars andaftermarkegt installation, has seen revenue from its automotive divisionb cut in half during the first quarter. (NYSE: which has an automotive parts plantin Suwanee, is restructuring its North American automotive department. Slacking new auto sales resulted ina $77 millioh impairment charge against its North Americaj automotive division in the firsft quarter.
Sales of its automotive productd — interior systems for cars and lighttruckd — fell from $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2008 to $888 milliohn in the quarter ended Marchu 31. , which fileds for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protectionin April, announced May 14 it woul eliminate nearly 800 dealerships in the Unitefd States and 14 dealerships in Georgia. , whicg along with Chrysler has receives billionsin taxpayer-funded bailouts, announced it would shutter 1,100o dealerships nationwide, including one in “It’s a very tough period — it’zs not a recession in the auto it’s a depression,” said David chairman of the ’s Center for Automotive Automotive “is the single most important industry in the Cole said, and the failure of carmakers woulds reverberate throughout the nation.
Commodities manufactureras like Sanderson have taken the hardest hit as the chaimn of productionhas stopped. GM is idlingy plants on a rolling nine- to 13-weei basis, and Chrysler is halting productiob for 30 to 60 Original equipmentmanufacturers (OEMs), industry parlance for suppliers to are an important part of Georgia’d diversified economy, said Ken commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. The stat e has more than 340 OEM suppliersz employingabout 42,000 people, Stewart said. “Like in any business, your succesxs depends on your Stewart said. Suppliers to domestic carmakers are likelyh to be hit harder than suppliers offoreigbn companies.
“There’s a shifting going on in the marketplace,” Stewarf said, and that diversity of customerw would serve Georgiaplants well. which will have a plant in production in Decemberf and boasts suppliersto Volkswagen, and plants in neighborinvg states, is in a better position than the Rust Belt when deman returns. Some, particularly suppliers to Kia and the planneds Volkswagen plantin Chattanooga, are