Superior Industries International is “restructuring” its manufacturing facility in Van Nuys, CA, and will lay off of approximately 375 workers of 635 employed in manufacturing operations there. The group’s corporate offices are located at the same site and will not be affected by the downsizing.
Superior Industries produces aluminum wheels and other aluminum automotive components at seven sites in the U.S. and Mexico. Customers include most of the major automotive manufacturers in North America and Europe. The Van Nuys plant includes a metalcasting operation, but the company plans to revise its role in the organization.
As described by president and CEO Steven Borick, "Going forward, our Van Nuys facility will concentrate on specialty operations. By focusing on our strengths, we believe this facility will be profitable at lower volumes. This is the latest step in our program to rationalize our production capacity to more effectively balance plant utilization and location against our customers' changing requirements for pricing, wheel size, design, delivery, scheduling and volume."
Earlier this year, Superior announced plans to sell its suspension components business, in order to expand its aluminum wheel business.