Borbet’s Solingen wheel factory to close

The Borbet wheel factory in Solingen, Germany will close on 31 December 2022. The wheel manufacturer told its workforce on Monday 28 November at a works meeting. Around 600 employees are affected. All previous attempts to find an economically viable future for the location had failed. A transfer company will be set up.

Borbet Solingen GmbH has been in trouble for some time. The company has been in protective shield proceedings since December 2021. Despite the difficult framework conditions, it has since been possible to continue business operations and to preserve around 600 jobs. At the same time, extensive measures were taken to develop and implement a viable concept for the future of the company. To this end, the self-governing management started a broad restructuring and investor process, in which the works council, major customers from the automotive industry, Borbet and potential investors were also involved – unfortunately without success.

“Due to the economic situation, which deteriorated again as a result of the Ukraine war, the sharp rise in raw material and energy prices and the recorded decline in sales in the automotive supplier industry, the mandatory requirements for maintaining the production site in Solingen could ultimately not be met,” Borbet reported. In the self-administration process, the management must therefore comply with the legal obligations in this situation and implement the site closure by the end of the year.

“The location in Solingen is making heavy losses and is not competitive in an international comparison. The plant was dependent on help from sister plants and the parent company,” Borbet representatives explained. Too high costs with increasing price pressure have long been a problem for the wheel manufacturer in Solingen. The global Covid-19 pandemic, massive increases in energy and material prices and the global semiconductor crisis had aggravated the situation.

The parent company, Borbet GmbH, had supported the restructuring process with financial aid in the millions. In the last three years, it has invested 40 million euros in the Solingen site and has suffered losses of 30 million euros since the beginning of 2020 alone, according to the wheel manufacturer.