GM to seek more business for former Delphi plant
General Motors executives said today they envision a bright future for the former Delphi Corp. plant at 1000 Lexington Ave. in Rochester — if GM can grab new business.
Officials of GM Components Holding LLC, the GM subsidiary that last month took ownership of some major Delphi assets, including the Rochester factory, spoke with reporters in a conference call.
The Lexington Avenue plant once employed 3,000 workers. The plant, which produces fuel systems for a number of different engines, now employs 880, according to plant manager Neal Evans.
Bill Shaw, general manager for GM Compnents Holding, said the goal of the company is to attract new fuel systems work to Rochester.
Shaw said GM took control of the Delphi facilities on Oct. 6. In addition to Rochester, GM now operates former Delphi plants in Lockport, Niagara County; Saginaw and Wyoming, Mich.; and Kokomo, Ind.
GM also said this week that it received permission to use $1.1 billion of its U.S. government aid to help buy the Delphi facilities.
The deal ensures a steady stream of critical parts to the automaker. The Delphi plants produce about 10 percent of the parts used in GM’s global manufacturing.
Delphi, once GM’s parts division, was spun off as a separate company in 1999 but filed for bankruptcy in 2005 and didn’t emerge from Chapter 11 until last month. Parts of the company not acquired by GM are operating as a separate entity called Delphi Holdings LLP.
