BBS Announces Closure of Former Hayes Lemmerz Plant

The management of BBS International GmbH (‘BBS’) has announced it intends to close its aluminium wheel manufacturing facility in Hoboken, Belgium. BBS management adds the company will follow the relevant legal procedures in doing so, and will attempt to bring about “an acceptable solution for all the parties involved.”

The Hoboken plant, formerly the Belgian subsidiary of Hayes Lemmerz International, was acquired by BBS on 16 June. The factory produces wheels for passenger cars and currently employs 258 people. According to BBS, the operation had been running at a loss for a “considerable time”, and the closure decision has now been taken as “management no longer wanted to keep its staff in a state of uncertainty.”

A thorough analysis showed the financial and economic situation of the Hoboken operations had become “untenable”, says BBS. To modernise the facility to meet the level of quality required by the automotive industry and to guarantee the safety of its employees was calculated as not cost-effective in the current circumstances. BBS will, following the closure, supply existing Hoboken clients from its German branches.