Most will be at Delphi's Kokomo, Ind., plant, which has about 2,500 salaried workers, but there also will be job cuts in Auburn Hills; Flint; Vandalia, Ohio; and Milwaukee, Delphi spokesman Milton Beach said. It was unknown how many Michigan employees will be affected.
Auto parts suppliers have shed thousands of jobs in the past several weeks, reacting to plummeting vehicles sales caused by high gas prices, a surge in demand for smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles and weak consumer confidence.
Jeff Owens, president of Delphi's electronics and safety division, said the cuts are difficult, but necessary.
The company is 'aligning its resources with the dramatic shifts' in the North American vehicle market, he said. 'Consumer trends and market conditions have caused fundamental shifts in consumer preferences, impacting both the volume and mix of vehicles produced by our North American customers.'
The job cuts come as Delphi struggles to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In April, its lead investor, Appaloosa Management LP, withdrew from a deal to sink up to $2.55 billion in a recapitalized company. That prompted Delphi to sue Appaloosa to try to force the company to follow through on the deal.
Delphi has seen a steep decline in revenue in 2008, largely because of a sharp decline in auto sales by its former parent and largest customer, General Motors Corp., whose sales are down 18 percent so far this year.
Through June 30, Delphi's revenue was down from $11.7 billion to $10.5 billion, and revenue from GM was down from $4.4 billion to $3.1 billion. On Aug. 8, Delphi reported a net second quarter loss of $551 million.
Delphi's electronics and safety division saw its revenue decline from $1.35 billion to $1.15 billion in the second quarter, with revenue from GM falling 32 percent.
Job cuts among other auto parts suppliers include:
• Auburn Hills-based BorgWarner Inc. is cutting 1,000 jobs, or 16 percent of its North American workforce, by year's end.
• American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. last week eliminated the first 100 of 350 white-collar jobs that will be cut.
• Toledo-based Dana Holding Corp. will trim 2,500 jobs by year's end, on top of 500 salaried job cuts previously announced.
• Swedish air bag maker Autoliv Inc. -- with North American headquarters in Auburn Hills and technical operations center in Southfield -- will eliminate up to 3,000 jobs worldwide.
• Tenneco Inc., the largest maker of automobile exhaust systems, will cut 75 employees or 6 percent of its U.S. salaried staff.
