GM, Chrysler announcements sting Hydro

TOUGH: Hydro is the leading supplier to the automotive industry of aluminium bumper beams and precision tubing. Photo: Hydro.com

Hydro does not rule out further reductions in its production of extruded aluminium automotive components and systems as result of the announcements that automakers General Motors and Chrysler are suspending vehicle production at most of their assembly plants in North America.

GM first announced it would idle 13 of its assembly plants in the United States and Mexico for up to nine additional weeks this summer, starting this month. Chrysler followed, on the day that it filed for bankruptcy protection, stating that it would suspend production indefinitely at all its US and Canada-based plants, beginning May 4.

Hydro delivers extruded aluminium products to each of these automakers, either directly or indirectly, from four plants in North America. These are mainly precision tubing products for heat transfer applications, and bumper beams for crash management systems.

Hydro announced already on April 1 that it would be closing one of its precision tubing plants – the Adrian, Michigan facility – by the end of this year. The announcement came prior to the news from GM and Chrysler.

Norwegian company Hydro is the global market leader in the field of aluminium solutions for automotive and non-automotive heat transfer applications, including air-conditioning systems. The company is also the leading supplier of extruded aluminium bumper beams, delivering to most of the world’s largest producers of passenger vehicles.

Read more on: Hydro.com