The car industry suffers another big blow as long time auto glass manufacturer Asahi Glass Corporation has announce that they will be cutting operations by the end of 2009 due to declining demand for automotive glass.
According to the company, the capacity utilization of its automotive glass business has declined to about 50% due to the marked decreases in automotive glass demand in Japan.
Approximately 170 employees are engaged in the automotive glass business at the Kitakyushu plant.
These employees will primarily be transferred to other plants or made eligible for the voluntary early retirement system. Other businesses at the Kitakyushu plant will continue without change.
AGC expects to incur extraordinary losses of approximately JPY5 billion for the fiscal year ended December 2009 with the closure of the automotive glass business at Kitakyushu plant.
(Source) Automotive Business Review
Tags: agc, asahi glass, asahi glass corporation, auto glass, automotive glass, capacity utilization, car industry, Closure, decreases, early retirement, fiscal year ended december, glass business, glass manufacturer, Japan, losses, plant source, retirement system