End in Sight for Conti’s Huntsville Plant

Continental AG’s automotive components plant in Huntsville, Alabama is preparing to close its doors for the last time. Production ended on November 11 and now only some 250 employees remain at the plant – this is expected to drop to around 100 in January. Continental has already announced Huntsville’s lost production will be absorbed by other plants in the US and Mexico.

When it opened in 1988 the plant was owned by Chrysler subsidiary Acustar. It was acquired by Siemens VDO Automotive in 2004 and sold along with the rest of the VDO business unit to Continental three years later. In September 2009, when Continental Automotive Systems announced its closure plans, the Huntsville plant had some 1,280 employees.