Center For Automotive Research: Plant Closures Not So Bad After All

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

After intensive study, the automaker and union-funded think tank, the Center For Automotive Research (CAR), came to the conclusion that closing down automotive manufacturing sites is not as catastrophic as originally thought. Nearly half of the 267 U.S. automotive manufacturing plants that had been shuttered since 1979 have come back to life.

With generous support from the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers, CAR catalogued 447 sites in 28 states that had operational since 1979. Of those, 60 percent were closed.

Automotive News [sub] read beyond the press release and unearthed that 65 percent of the closed sites belonged to General Motors, 16 percent to Ford, 16 percent to Chrysler and 3 percent to other automakers. Said Jay Williams, Director of the Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers:

“While each community with a closed automotive facility faces unique challenges, this report helps shine a light on how community engagement, a focus on flexibility, and the involvement of the private sector, non-profit groups, and all levels of government can help them recover. The findings will assist our office as we continue to help leaders navigate the local, state, and federal resources available to revitalize former auto communities.”

Most of the new sites received a new job for industrial purposes, others were converted into warehouses, commercial facilities, educational institutions or even for recreational purposes.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • HiFlite999 HiFlite999 on Dec 09, 2011

    "Finally, do you know that the train depot was never actually used for anything?! That’s right, it was built and never finished on the inside." .... complete and utter nonsense as a 5 second search would have verified: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Central_Station I don't know what planet many of you are living on, but, as a Michigan resident, hardly a day goes by where the wreckage of old auto plants isn't on display. If one is lucky, they've been bulldozed flat, but unlikely to ever be redeveloped due to thorough contamination by industrial wastes. It's much cheaper to build a new factory on corn fields than to clean up the mess. 67 listed superfund sites (most as a result of automobile manufacture) in Michigan, 3 in my county, and most have been simply fenced off with no action taken for 30 years.

    • See 1 previous
    • Redmondjp Redmondjp on Dec 09, 2011

      @Ronnie Schreiber If only the metal recyclers paid cash on the spot for barrels of PCBs and asbestos floor tiles and pipe insulation, this problem would quickly take care of itself!

  • Cbee1234 Cbee1234 on Dec 10, 2011

    I remember we use to play paintball in the Packard Plant in the mid to late 90's. It was by far the funnest place to play p-ball. Also, I knew someone who had an apartment in the plant, he lived there until 2000 or so. Knowing what Chicago and Pittsburgh did to their old factory sites and their cities in general it's sad to see the amount of corruption and infighting that goes on in Detroit. Drive down Grand Boulevard and look at all the old Victorian style homes and all their architecture it brings a tear to me to see those homes in their current condition. Detroit could be a beautiful city again, I think Bing is the right man it's the city council that's stopping him. How sad.

  • John Horner John Horner on Dec 10, 2011

    Yeah, the formerly industrialized areas of the United States are a new paradise. Don't worry about all those factories which were closed to move production to China. Why, four out of ten of the closed down platns are actually being used, at least partially, for something today! We in the US should be thankful that those factories closed down and the jobs were sent elsewhere ....

  • Obbop Obbop on Dec 12, 2011

    Hey, herd, Solo cup's local closed-up plant is available. "730,000-square foot manufacturing plant and 230,000-square foot warehouse." That's a lotta' square foots. Imagine the slot-car track you could put in there. And, perhaps, a roller skating rink. Allow skate boarding. "nearly $65-million in potential bonds that could be used for facility upgrades in order to attract a new tenant to the one-million square foot facility." Square feet fetish in the local media. http://media.trb.com/media/alternatethumbnails/story/2011-12/294082900-11201810.jpg Heck, hire me to manage the place. I would convert the cup to living quarters.

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